Aug 30, 2021 | Trevor Russwurm | 418 views
15U OBA Astros Sweep Home-and-Home With Beamsville
The Mitchell 15U OBA Astros completed a home-and-home sweep this past weekend in OBA Provincial 'D' Championship action, notching an 11-3 road win in Beamsville on August 28th followed by a 17-7 victory at home the following day.
In Beamsville on Saturday, starter Keegan Priestap again went the distance, scattering 8 hits over 7 innings on his way to another complete game victory. Priestap would also contribute at the plate, going 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Leadoff hitter Jarrett Van Bakel got the Astros going immediately in the opening frame, reaching base on an infield error and scoring on Kellen Russwurm's RBI base hit. The locals would add three more in the third to take a 4-0 lead, and not give up the lead the rest of the way. Extra base hits were recorded by Jordan Visneskie with an RBI triple, Russwurm with a 2-run double, and Van Bakel. Van Bakel and Russwurm would reach base safely in all four at-bats.
Back at home the next day, starter Caleb Templeman pitched out of a first inning jam that yielded two runs on three hits and an infield error to lead the Astros to a 17-7 victory on the mound. Templeman would fall just short of the complete game victory, giving way to reliever Brennan Ward for the final two outs after reaching the maximum daily pitch count.
After falling behind 2-0 in the opening inning, the red-hot Astro bats would answer back with four runs of their own on two hits and four Beamsville errors to take a 4-2 lead. Not giving up easily, Beamsville would storm back with four of their own in the second inning to regain the lead 6-4. After both teams exchanged quiet halves, the Astro offense exploded for ten runs in the bottom of the third to put the game away. Catcher Russwurm had another hot game at the plate, going 5-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored, and an RBI. Leadoff batter Carson Harmer was 3-for-5 with 2 runs scored and an RBI triple. Van Bakel, Templeman, Visneskie, and Dominic Marshall would all score two runs each, with Marshall driving in a total of three runs. Charlie Geiger added a 2-run single, and Wade Campbell chipped in with a late-game double.
Shortstop Harmer made two spectacular diving plays to get late-game outs, and first baseman Visneskie also had a diving grab of a liner earlier in the game.
Mitchell will wrap up the 4-team round robin playoff format on Labour Day Weekend with their final home-and-home series vs Wyoming.