The Marysburg Royals were provided with seven great innings pitched by a couple youngsters and three savvy vets handled the offence in a 5-2 win Friday night in their AA Tier 1 provincial baseball opener.

Eric Bollefer threw five innings to get the win, Parker McRae pitched the final couple to get the save.

First baseman Luke Strueby had the go ahead RBI's with a triple in the fifth.

"Eric started the game for us, he threw five strong, he'd be one of the vets on our team but he'd only be 23 or 24 and then Parker McRae, our pick-up played with the Muenster Midgets for years, he came in and shut the door the last two innings and never gave them much of a chance. We were able to come through finally with some hits, it took a while but we got going."

Bollefer gave up just two runs on five hits, McRae allowed no hits, he walked one and also struck one batter out.

Strueby(pictured above) finished the game 3/4 adding a pair of singles, his glove was hot as well snagging a pair of scorching liners up the first base line, one leading to a double play.

He takes us through his clutch fifth inning at bat that gave the Royals a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

"First pitch I figured he go off-speed with guys in scoring position, he threw a curve ball and missed, I was sitting dead red on the fastball and I got one to rip. I was able to sneak it just inside the base, it was close to going foul but got into the corner, rattled around a bit so it was able to score two runs."

Shortstop Curtis Strueby stroked a two-run single the next inning for some insurance, easing the tension on McRae. Strueby swiped two bases in the contest as well.

Second baseman Rylan Korte drove in a early run to get the Royals on the board. Left-fielder Cam Blair chipped in with a pair of hits.

Overall, Strueby is happy they started on the right foot.

"It's always good to get the first one, just confidence wise. Get the guys in a positive mood and all that as well, get the mental part of the game right. Especially last year at provincials we had a little bit of a rough go so it's just good to get that first one under our belts."

They turn their attention to the Regina Trappers Saturday afternoon, first pitch is 1:30.

You can hear more from Strueby below.