Cole Roederer homers Canberra Cavalry to first post-pandemic ABL victory over Sydney Blue Sox

It's just part of his upbringing. And it's that respect he's hoping to earn from his Canberra Cavalry teammates.

The Chicago Cubs prospect's certainly gone a long way to doing that already - his solo home run got the Cavalry their first ABL win in what seems like forever.

They beat arch-rival Sydney Blue Sox 1-0 in their season opener at Narrabundah Ballpark on Thursday night.

It was the perfect start for the Cavalry outfielder, producing the only run of the game.

He's come into the ABL with plenty of confidence, having climbed his way up to AA- level this year - two levels below the Majors.

"That's the biggest thing for me, I'm the biggest person on respect," Roederer said.

"I feel like I've got to earn respect from everybody regardless of who I am, what I've done in the past so it felt good just to show my teammates they can rely on me a little bit and I can get the job done for them.

"Man it felt good to get the first one out of the way. It really did."

After bushfires, toxic smoke and a global pandemic have smashed the past three seasons, the Cavalry were finally back. And back to their winning ways.

Roederer made his intentions clear that's what Canberra planned to do for the rest of the season - he's already set his sights on helping the Cavalrymen to their second Claxton Shield.

The win gives them something to build their season on and hopefully the crowds can build off Thursday's moderate base.

"I'm hoping for this. Game one we got out of the way with a big W," Roederer said.

"There shouldn't be anybody that should stand in our way. We should go all the way and hopefully when things go right and the dice play out we'll win a ring."

Roederer might've won the game, but it was Cavalry starting pitcher Frank Gailey who laid the foundation for it happen.

Canberra manager Keith Ward's "Bulldog" - or Jackie Moon as Roederer calls him in reference to the Will Ferrell character from the movie Semi-Pro - got through six innings of runless work, striking out five, giving up five hits and walking one.

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

Moon's the owner, manager and star player of a fictional basketball team, while Gailey's not just the Cavalry starting pitcher but their pitching coach as well - not to mention playing a key role in recruiting too.

"We call him Jackie Moon - he's the GM and a player. He's the same exact situation that Frank is in - almost 37 years old and comes out here and absolutely deals," Roederer said.

"That's the bulldog we love to be behind and if he's going to set the tone like that we're going to have to get him the W."

The Cavalry will look to continue their winning start to the season with game two against the Blue Sox at Narrabundah Ballpark on Friday night.

AT A GLANCE

SYDNEY BLUE SOX 000 000 000 - 0R 5H 0E

CANBERRA CAVALRY 000 001 00x - 1R 6H 1E

Frank Gailey (W, 6I, 0R, 5K, 5H), Cole Roederer (4AB, 1HR, 2H, 1RBI)

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: