The Walkerton Capitals (Team Hope) would travel
to Port Elgin to play its first game of the season against the Saugeen Shores
Sting #3 team on Sunday, May 28th.
The two teams would battle back and forth in a highly entertaining and
exciting game.
The Capitals would send five batters to the plate in the first inning with Carson Baglole and Ethan Rogers each reaching base. Both runners, however, would be stranded as the third out occurred. In the bottom half of the inning Walkerton’s defence would step up with some outstanding plays and fantastic pitching. It was a three up three down half inning.
Matthew McNaughton would lead the second inning off with a single and Logan Bradley would walk but again strong pitching from the Sting’s young pitcher would hold the runners at third and second respectively as the side concluded. The home half of the inning was lead off with a triple after a line drive into the left outfield. The runner would then advance to score the first run when he came home on a passed ball. Ethan Rogers would then strike out the next three batters with speed and control. After two innings in the books Saugeen Shores lead 1-0.
Walkerton would send six batters to the plate in the third Jake Wells would start it off with a single and promptly stole second base. Connor McIntosh would walk and the two runners would both come around to score. Matthew McNaughton would double after hitting to centre field. He would steal third base but would be stranded there with the third out. The Sting would send four batters to the plate in their half of the inning and they too would strand a runner at third. Walkerton would lead 2-1 after three innings.
The fourth inning and Walkerton would send all nine players to the plate. Travis Goll would single, Carson Baglole would single, Ethan Rogers would then double with a line drive into the outfield bringing home Travis and Carson. AJ Wells would then single bringing home Ethan. Matthew McNaughton would walk and both players would advance on a passed ball but would be left at third and second with the final out. The Sting would send eight of its own players to bat in the bottom of the fourth and would score three runs to keep the game close.
The fifth inning had the Capitals still hitting well. Logan Bradley started the inning off with a line drive down the base line, Jake Wells would then walk and Ethan Rogers would hit a line drive that would be snagged by the first baseman who would throw a sliding Logan Bradley out at home plate to end the inning in a very close play. The Sting would be rewarded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game going into the final frame.
The Capitals would continue to battle into the sixth inning Connor McIntosh would double, AJ Wells would walk and Matthew McNaughton would reach first base on a third strike pass ball to start the inning off. The three runners would all come round to score. Carson Filsinger would walk and then steal second and then third but would be stranded there as the side was retired. The Sting would battle to the end and would muster four runs in the bottom half of the inning to squeak out a 10-9 win in what was a great game to watch.
The boys can take a lot away from their first game. Several times the batters would fight back against early strikes and made the most of their time at the plate, often coming out with timely hitting. The defensive play was stellar and the pitching fantastic. The coaching staff was very pleased with the performances from your first game out.
WALKERTON CAPITALS SAUGEEN SHORES STING #3
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