Aug 02, 2017 | Trevor Russwurm | 783 views
Mosquito OBA Earn Berth In Provincials With Qualifier Win
The Stickhandler Mosquito OBA Astros punched their ticket to the OBA Provincial 'D' Championships on Aug 1st with a convincing 20-2 victory over St Marys in a qualifier game played in Clinton.
Mitchell drew visitors for the neutral site match, and immediately opened up a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Carson Harmer belted a one-out solo home run to get the locals on the board, and Jarrett Van Bakel and Jordan Visneskie also scored. Starter Josh French proceeded to strike out the side in the bottom half, and then the high-octane Astros offense went to work, putting up nine runs in the second inning. Lucas Roobroeck got things started by drawing a walk, racing around to third on a hit-and-run by Kellen Russwurm. All twelve Mitchell batters would come to the plate that inning to build a 12-0 lead. Mitchell continued to pound away for two more innings, with the 20th run crossing on an RBI triple to right centre by Russwurm.
St Marys would claw back for one run each in the second and fourth innings, but the mercy rule would apply and the game was over after four innings of play. French finished with 8 strikeouts and 2 unearned runs, yielding to reliever Caleb Templeman to record the final three outs.
All but one Mitchell batter crossed the plate at least once, with Visneskie and Roobroeck each scoring three times.
Defensive highlights included French picking off a runner into a rundown and eventual out from the mound, and left fielder Keegan Priestap catching a fly ball out and doubling a runner off at second base.
The OBA Provincial 'D' tournament will be held on Labour Day Weekend in Chatham.