Jun 19, 2017 | Trevor Russwurm | 270 views
Mosquito OBA Bounced in Semi's in Woodstock
The Stickhandler Mosquito OBA Astros competed in the Woodstock 'B' Tournament from June 16-18th, eventually being eliminated by Leamington in an exciting 8-7 game in the semi-finals on Sunday morning. Starter Josh French went 3 1/3 innings, pitching effectively but reaching his pitch count limit with the team down 6-3. Jack Small would relieve and end the threat, quieting down the Leamington bats for the next two innings to set the stage for a couple of Astro rallies.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Jack Miller opened the top of the 6th with a base hit, scoring on Jarrett Van Bakel's RBI single. Jordan Visneskie drove in Van Bakel, which put the locals to within one run, down 6-5. Rallying again in the top of the 7th, Mitchell opened with back-to-back base hits by Small and Lucas Roobroeck. Kellen Russwurm smacked a 2-run double, and the Astros pulled ahead 7-6. With two out in the bottom of the 7th, a trip to to the finals was only one out away. However a Leamington walk-off 2-run double right down the right field line ended the game in an 8-7 loss. Leamington would go on to face the eventual champion Woodstock Wranglers in the final. French reached base in all three at-bats, and Van Bakel and Miller each scored two runs.
The Astros opened the tournament on Friday night with a strong 20-5 mercy victory over Southwest London Select, as French started and went 3 2/3 innings scattering five hits, and was relieved by Carson Harmer to finish up the last inning. The locals opened up with a strong first inning on the bats as Dominic Marshall led off with a single. Following a walk to Harmer, French drove in both with an RBI double on route to a 6-0 lead. Marshall was 4-for-4 with three runs scored, including two RBI triples and a double, and Keegan Priestap also tripled. Visneskie crossed the plate three times. Jack Miller earned an outfield assist gunning down a runner at third base.
Game two was set for Saturday morning against the Kitchener Panthers, and the Mitchell bats exploded for thirteen runs in the first inning as this one was over after three innings in a 23-3 mercy. Starter Ryan Hubbard had four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings, and Caleb Templeman came in to pitch the last batter and finish up. French was 4-for-4 with four runs scored, and three runs each were scored by Marshall, Van Bakel, and Miller. Russwurm had an outfield assist, throwing out an advancing runner at third base.
The competition level was expected to increase for the afternoon game, as the locals would square off against the strong host Woodstock Wranglers team. Starter Visneskie would stymie the Woodstock bats, working a scoreless opening four innings. After the leadoff Wrangler batter reached on an error, he was cut down by catcher Van Bakel on an attempted steal. The Mitchell bats broke open in the third inning with a bit of small ball as both Marshall and French had bunt singles to pace a 4-0 lead. However, it would not last as Woodstock exploded for nine runs in the fifth inning, with a combination of heavy hitting and some Mitchell errors. The locals would battle back with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth, again on back-to-back bunt singles by Marshall and Harmer, followed by a two-run double by French. After a wild pitch advanced French, Van Bakel hit a sacrifice fly to score the run, but a disputed appeal call that the runner left early on the tag erased that run. Visneskie followed up with a triple to deep right-centre, but a Roobroeck groundout ended the inning. Woodstock would add a run in the sixth to eventually defeat the locals 10-7, locking up the #1 seed for the Sunday semi's and sending Mitchell to #3 to face Leamington.
Great weekend for the boys, clearly showing we can hold our own as a 'D' team in a 'B' level tournament!