By Ryan Hanson, staff writer

Under gloomy skies the Albert Lea Colonels opened their 2006 season at home against the Minnesota Lake Royals. The Colonels offense struggled most of the night and only managed to produce three runs in a 7-3 loss.

The game was a stand off until the third inning when the visitors put together a couple hits and managed to advance runners on two separate wild pitches to score two runs.

The Colonels got on the board in the fourth. Zac Oquist hit a lead off double and two outs later he crossed the plate on a Devin Kaasa single.

The Royals would score four more runs before the Colonels were able to retaliate.

In the seventh inning the Colonels’ Jared Butler hit a RBI double that breathed life back into the weary crowd. Butler went 2-for-5 in the game with the RBI.

In the ninth inning both teams scored one run apiece. Albert Lea’s run came from a hard hit single off the bat of Matt Trygstad which scored the runner from second base.

The pitching for the Colonels was pretty solid. Derek Goodnature started the game and pitched three innings. He stuck out four and only gave up one walk. Devin Kaasa pitched the final four innings giving up four runs, but none of them were earned.

&8220;I didn’t think our pitching was all that bad,&8221; said A-L’s head coach Bill Trygstad.

The offense for the Colonels struck out 19 times in the game.

&8220;We are a little rusty, but we started swinging the bat a lot better in the last three or four innings,&8221; said coach Trygstad.

Levi Hendrickson went 2-for-5 in the game. Trygstad was 1-for-3 and walked twice.

The Colonels’ next game is at home on Sunday night versus their Southern Minnesota League opponent Rochester Royals.