Jul 16, 2018 | Trevor Russwurm | 835 views
Major Mosquito OBA Finalists in Kincardine
The Mitchell Stickhandler Major Mosquito OBA Astros dropped an 18-9 decision to the Listowel Legionnaires on July 15th in the finals of the Kincardine Mosquito Tournament after going undefeated in round robin and semi-final action.
Starter Keegan Priestap gave up two earned runs on four hits in the top of the first, but the Astros would knot the score in the bottom half with two unearned runs as Dawson White reached on an error and Kellen Russwurm would follow with a walk, both coming in to score. Listowel went quiet in the top of the second, and the locals would briefly take the lead in the bottom half on a double by Ryan Hubbard and RBI base hit from Priestap. The teams would trade runs back and forth for two more innings, reaching a 6-6 tie after the fourth, and then things started to unravel. A combination of four hits, three walks, an error, and a hit batsman resulted in a ten-running inning for Listowel, as they cruised to an 18-9 final. Mitchell did not go quietly in the last inning, as Ben Medhurst hit a one-out double, scoring on Hubbard's RBI triple. Joel Meinen would then knock in Hubbard with a base hit, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.
Mitchell opened tournament play on Friday night against the Kitchener Panthers, perhaps underestimating their opponent and giving up four runs in the top half on three walks and three hits. The Astros would immediately answer back as leadoff batter Carson Harmer opened with a double, scoring on Jordan Visneskie's two-out single. Jack Miller would drive in Visneskie with a double, scoring himself on a wild pitch. Astro pitching and defense would settle down after that, only giving up one more run the remainder of the game on route to a 12-5 opening win. Harmer and Dominic Marshall would reach base in all three at-bats, each scoring two runs. Priesteap would record the win in relief of starter Marshall.
The locals faced an overwhelmed Owen Sound Mosquito Select team on Saturday afternoon, exploding on the bats for a 19-1 mercy win. Scoring three runs each were Harmer, White, Russwurm, and Cody Bach. Extra-base hits were recorded by Russwurm, Visneskie, Bach, and Medhurst. Russwurm would go almost the entire distance on the mound before reaching the pitch count limit and yielding to Meinen to finish the last two batters.
Mitchell would face eventual tournament winner Listowel in the third round robin game, displaying strong bats and excellent defense in an 11-4 victory. Catcher Russwurm would pick a runner off at third base, and Bach ran down a deep hit to centre field, relaying to Miller to gun the runner out at the plate trying to score. Harmer again led the offense, reaching base in all four at-bats with walks and scoring twice. Visneskie brought the power, hitting two doubles and a triple. Bach also stroked an RBI triple. Starter Visneskie once again kept the powerful Listowel bats in check, with Medhurst and Hubbard both coming in to finish up in relief.
An undefeated record sent Mitchell into the semi-finals on Sunday morning against Vaughn, with Harmer earning the start on the mound. Perhaps still half asleep, the locals found themselves quickly down 7-2 after two innings of play, but clawed back to tie the game in the bottom of the third with a five-run outburst. Hubbard reached on an error to open the inning, and Mitchell started a two-out rally with Harmer's RBI base hit. With the next three batters aboard to load the bases, Visneskie delivered the big blow with a bases-clearing triple to bring the score to 7-7. The Astros took the lead in the fourth on Charlie Geiger's triple in the gap, scoring as Bach would reach base on an error. Vaughn would once again tie the game in the top of the sixth with a triple and RBI double. But Bach would be the hero in the last inning, delivering the game-winning hit to drive in Miller who had reached on a one-out double, sending the team into the championship final.