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Fort McMurray, Alberta - What do the Fort Mac Roughnecks, PEI Argonauts, West Bay Red Skulls, Yellowknife Bluenotes, Grand Rapids Red Dogs, Vancouver Orcas, St Paul Pride, Fredericton Bandits, Cobourg Stampeders and the Val d’Or Sharks all have in common? Well nothing anymore, as of this week, the Fort Mac Roughnecks have finally obtained something that the other 9 franchises have yet to do. With a Framers League leading record of 39-18, the Roughnecks have finally ranked number 1 in the CBL Power Rankings.
Historically, the CBL’s historically worst franchise, the Roughnecks have finally climbed to the top spot in the weekly Power Rankings. While some prognosticators had pegged the Roughnecks to win as many as 120 games this season, the team never got off to a blazing start. Some critics said that they didn’t even have the best batting in their own division. So, with an abundance of pitching talent finally starting to dominate, the Roughnecks made a trade that has so far paid dividends on the offensive side of the ball. Fort Mac sent right handed starting pitcher Bill Brauneller, who was the team’s 2nd overall pick in the 2012 CBL Draft along with their 2022 draft package to the West Bay Red Skulls in exchange for some veteran left handed batting help. The Roughnecks acquired a pair of 33 year olds in C Darryl Curtis and 1B Taira Matsumoto.
The trade has seemed to benefit both teams equally, as Brauneller, 27, has quickly made his way to becoming the ace of the Red Skulls lineup and posting a 3-1 record so far in his last 28 games. The Red Skulls have since shipped the draft picks away and have replaced Curtis with veteran C Trent Christmas. While Curtis has batted .322 since swapping over to the Farmers League, he pales in comparison to Matsumoto who has hit an eye popping .418 with the Roughnecks.
The addition of the two veteran left handed batters has vaulted the team to the top of the League and may have made them a lock for the playoffs, a favorite to win the division and a serious contender to win the league, but will they be the missing pieces of the puzzle for Fort Mac to taste the beer? Time will only tell, but as one of the World’s biggest rock bands has said “It’s a long way to the top” and it has been a long way for the Roughnecks, at least for now, the food is a lot warmer and the drinks are a lot colder than they have ever been for the losingest franchise in CBL history.
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