|
The
Sarnia Braves continued their undefeated WCBL play,
in preparation for a Baseball Ontario AAA first
round showdown with Burlington, by defeating the
Forest Dragons 4-1.
Righthander Mike Hyde took the mound and didn’t
disappoint, tossing a complete game three hitter.
Hyde struck out 9 and lowered his ERA to a stingy
0.36. He moved his record to 4-0 on the season and
has kept opposition hitters to a .132 average when
on the hill.
The Braves, now 10-0 on the season in WCBL play,
would get on the board in the first inning as second
baseman Nick Baljeu launched his first homerun of
the year over the right field fence for a solo shot.
Up 1-0, Hyde would settle into a grove, allowing
only two hits through the first five innings of
play.
Sarnia
was able to generate more run support in the sixth
inning as Wade Babula started the inning off with a
sharply hit single to the left side. Baljeu would
follow this hit up with a triple, collecting his
ninth RBI of the season and making the score 2-0 for
the Braves. James Grant would benefit again from
Babula and Baljeu’s ability to get on base as he
notched his 27th RBI of the year on a double into
the left-centre field gap. Despite Forest pitcher
Matt Zylstra retiring the next two hitters, Doug
Amlin was able to connect for a single up the middle
to score Grant and make the score 4-0 Braves.
Forest
would battle back in their half of the inning as
Chris Emery and Mark Daley would each reach base.
Forest would score a run in the frame after Hyde’s
only two walks of the game but that was as close as
the home side would come to Sarnia.
"This is turning out to be a very special team,"
says Hyde. "My job is to go out there and do the
best I can to produce outs. That is a lot easier to
accomplish when you have players who can make the
hard plays look easy. I am having a lot of fun and
getting better with every start. It feels great to
be winning ball games for my hometown. We have a
great baseball tradition here in Sarnia and
hopefully we can continue to do that past justice
this season."
The
Braves will host the Wyoming Cattlebarons at Errol
Russell Park on Monday, June 27th at 7:30pm. They
will then face the Wyoming Cowboys at 7:00pm on
Tuesday, June 28th at Blackwell Park in Sarnia,
before heading on the road to Corunna on Thursday
and Dresden on Sunday.
Follow Sarniasports on twitter
@sarniasports.
Get up to the minute news, and live scores
as they happen from local events. |
