LAKE WALES, Fla. – This afternoon at 12 our Warner Royals and the Webber International Warriors battled it out today on Royals Field, in what was the 2^nd installment of this weekend's non-conference games vs the Warriors.
 
The Royals battled hard and kept themselves in the game until the Warriors capitalized in the 8^th inning to score 8 runs and run away with the game, final score was 17-7 in favor of the Warriors.
 
1^st Inning
Royal's defense came out ready to play as Josh Strickland made an ESPN worthy diving play in the 6 hole for the 2^nd out of the top of the 1^st inning.
 
On the offensive side of the ball Trey Matthews got the 1^st hit of the game for either side when he smacked a fastball back up the middle past the out reached glove of the shortstop.
2^nd Inning
In the top half of the 2^nd inning the Warriors got the bases loaded with no outs after Royals shortstop, Erich Jaquez, made an error and starting pitcher, Jaryd Clary, walked 2 batters to start the inning off.
 
The Warriors jumped on the board first when they knocked a single to left to bring home the first 2 runs of the game. A sacrifice fly brought in the 3^rd run of the game for the Warriors in the inning, and with 2 outs Webber knocked another single to left center to bring home their 4^th run of the inning.
 
The Royals went 3 up 3 down in the bottom half of the 2^nd inning. The score after 2 innings was 4-0 in favor of the Warriors.
3^rd Inning
The Warriors went 3 up 3 down to start off the 3^rd inning.
 
As for the Royals in the bottom half, Keith Rathbun homered on the 1^st pitch he saw in the bottom half of the inning to bring across the first run for the Royals in today's contest.
 
Later on in the inning Trey Matthews singled to left field to bring home Rio Russell for the 2^nd run of the inning for the Royals.
 
With 2 outs the Royals tied the game on a Josh Strickland 2 RBI single to left field.
 
After 3 innings the Royals and Warriors were tied up 4-4.
4^th Inning
The Royals made a pitching change in the top of the 4^th inning and decided to bring in Joey Theune, Theune made slight work of the Warriors in the top half forcing the Warriors to go 3 up and 3 down and also had 2 strike outs in the top half of the inning.
 
In the bottom half of the inning Alfred Brown singled to right and Rio Russell followed that with a single of his own to center field, Brown advanced to 3^rd on Russell's single. With 2 outs Russell stole 2^nd base, putting himself in scoring position along with Brown.
 
Rafael Astacio got hit in the leg by a breaking ball to load the bases for the Royals, and then Trey Matthews drew a walk to bring Brown home for the 5^th run of the game for the Royals.
 
After 4 innings the Royals led 5-4.
5^th Inning
In the top of the 5^th Webber hit a solo homerun to right center field to tie things up 5-5.
 
The Royals weathered the storm and kept the Warriors tied up 5-5 after the solo homerun.
 
In the bottom half of the 5^th the Royals offense went 3 up and 3 down again.
6^th Inning
The Royals continued to pitch effectively in the top of the 6^th, only allowing 1 base runner.
 
In the bottom half of the inning the Royals looked like they were getting something going when Alfred Brown was hit by a pitch then advanced to 2^nd base on a Warrior balk. Rafael Astacio reached base safely in the inning off an error by the Warrior 1^st baseman, Brown advanced to 3^rd base on the error but the inning came to end without the Royals being able to score when Trey Matthews struck out to end the inning.
7^th Inning
The Warriors blew things open in the top of the 7^th, scoring 8 runs on 5 hits, 3 doubles, 1 single and home run. The Royals struggled to make pitches and make plays defensively in the inning and allowed Webber to take control of the game.
 
In the bottom half of the 7^th the Royals scored 2 runs of their own, off a double down the left field line by Jan Martinez, a Keith Rathbun walk, an Alfred Brown single to left field and a Rio Russell hit by pitch.
 
After 7 innings the Royals trailed the Warriors 13-7.
8^th Inning
The Royals once again held the Warriors scoreless in the top of the 8^th inning.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, Warner got a 1 out single to right field but the Warriors were able to turn a double play right after and end the inning before the Royals could really get going.
9^th Inning
Webber International put 4 more runs on the board in the top half of the 9^th inning off 4 hits and extended their lead to 10 runs; after 8 and half innings the Royals trailed the Warriors 17-7.
 
In the bottom half of the inning the Royals needed to score at least 10 runs to force extra innings but only managed to get 1 hit in the inning before the Warriors got all 3 outs to bring the game to an end.
 
Neither one of the games played in the last 2 days has been a conference game for either team, expect the Royals to build off of these 2 games and learn from their mistakes as they continue to strive for greatness in this 2019 baseball season.