Sep 03, 2018 | Trevor Russwurm | 1913 views
Major Mosquito OBA Go Undefeated to Capture Third Straight OBA Championship
The Mitchell Stickhandler Major Mosquito Astros defeated Beamsville 9-8 in the final of the OBA Mosquito 'C' Provincial Championships held in Dorchester this past weekend. The squad went undefeated for the tournament, winning their third consecutive provincial title.
Starter Jordan Visneskie worked a dandy of a championship game, tossing a four-hitter with seven strikeouts over his four innings of work and departing with a 5-2 lead. Jack Miller would come on in relief for 1 1/3 innings, and Dominic Marshall came in to record the last two outs for the save.
After a quick 1-2-3 top of the first, the local bats went to work immediately. Marshall reached on a one-out hit-by-pitch, and was quickly driven in on a double to left centre by Kellen Russwurm. Visneskie would single and steal second, followed by a two-run double by Miller to take a 3-0 lead. The teams traded two scoreless innings before Visneskie opened the bottom of the fourth with a triple, and was cashed on a double by Miller. One out later, Cody Bach drove a pitch to deep centre field for an RBI double that scored Miller. Ben Medhurst would reach on an infield error that also allowed Bach to score. Holding a 9-4 lead going into the top of the 7th, things would get interesting as Beamsville fought back with three hits and three walks to come within one run. With runners on second and third and two out, Marshall would strike out the last batter and the celebration was on. A very tense but exciting championship final finish!
The Astros opened tournament play on Friday vs Wyoming. In an unusually low-scoring affair, the teams were tied 3-3 going into the fifth before Mitchell opened things up with a four-run inning as Charlie Geiger, Ryan Hubbard, Keegan Priestap, and Carson Harmer would all come in to score. Visneskie and Joel Meinen would score in the next inning to finish up as a 9-4 final. Starter Harmer threw the 70-pitch max, allowing three hits while striking out eight. Priestap and Medhurst finished up in relief.
Winning the first game secured the noon start time the next day, as the locals were matched up against league rival Listowel. Hubbard would start, and was promptly greeted with a triple by the first batter, and an RBI single immediately after. A one-out double later, and the locals were quickly down 2-0. Hubbard would settle in after that, allowing only two more hits while striking out five. Priestap and Visneskie would finish up in relief. Mitchell quickly answered back in the opening inning with four runs, never giving up the lead on route to a 9-3 win. Harmer reached base in every at-bat with two stolen bases, and Russwurm had three RBI's. Extra-base hits were recorded by Bach and Priestap, and Harmer, Visneskie, and Miller each scored twice.
Next up was Uxbridge, and the bats were fully warmed up at this point, exploding for 14 runs in the top of the opening inning and cruising to a 15-0 mercy win after 4 innings. Russwurm hit two doubles, and Geiger, Marshall, and Miller also had two-baggers. Priestap and Meinen shared the mound duties in the lopsided win.
The undefeated game was next up on Saturday night vs Ingersoll, a team that the Astros had beaten twice in preseason exhibition games. With limited pitches left for some, Visneskie, Russwurm, Priestap, Meinen, and Medhurst all saw action on the mound in the 17-8 victory. Drawing visitors again for this game, the bats went to work right away as Harmer opened the game with a triple into the left field corner, scoring when Marshall reached on an infield error. The Astros would add two more runs to open with a 4-0 lead, and three more in the second to build it to 7-0. Ingersoll would battle back in the third with 7 runs to bring it to 9-7, but Mitchell would put the game away with an 8-run sixth inning. Harmer would add a 3-run home run in the seventh as insurance, giving him five runs scored in the game. Hubbard and Priestap would each score three runs.
Mitchell would advance to the semi-final on Sunday morning vs the Walkerton-based Saugeen River Bandits. The Bandits leadoff batter greeted starter Harmer with a double and would score, but he would shut them down for the remainder of his four innings of work, scattering five hits with seven strikeouts in an 11-4 victory. Hubbard and Miller would finish up in relief. Bach and Medhurst each scored two runs, and extra base hits were recorded by Russwurm, Meinen, and Medhurst.