Dresden, ON - The Sarnia Braves (Men's) won their 2011 Western Counties Baseball League opener in Dresden this holiday weekend by a score of 7-0.

The Sarnia pitching staff got off to a solid start as Joel Ainsworth, Anthony Shepherd and Tyler Young combined to hold Dresden to just two hits. Ainsworth picked up the win for the Braves as he struck out seven Dresden hitters over the first four frames.

Sarnia took a 1-0 in the first inning as Wade Babula was knocked home from third on a Mason McCarthy hit. The visitors would put two more runs on the board in the fourth inning as Greg Kemble singled home Scott Finnie before Babula would plate Kemble in the next at bat.

Sarnia seemed to shake off any early season jitters in the fifth inning with the pitching staff rolling. Rick Taylor, McCarthy, Chris Bright and Kemble would all score in the fifth as the Braves put the game out of reach. Both Taylor and James Grant had doubles in the game while Babula, McCarthy, Finnie and Kemble each had singles.

"It was very encouraging to see our pitching staff get out of the gate with such a strong performance. Rain has played havoc with our schedule so far, but despite that we looked pretty good on the mound. We can only hope that the rest of the staff will be as ready to go," says bench coach Brad Wright. "Pitching is going to be our strong suit and we have some talented individuals scheduled to take the hill this coming week. It will be great for them all to get off on the right foot."

Sarnia is on the road until their Home Opener on June 6th at 7:30pm at Errol Russell Park. The Braves will also be at home on June 7th at 7:30pm at Errol Russell.

This week the Braves will travel to Wyoming, Sarnia Midgets and Petrolia. In Wyoming, Nick Baljeu, 2010 OUA baseball champion with the Brock Badgers, will make his first start of the season. Against the Midgets, Anthony Shepherd from SC4 in Port Huron will make his first start. In Petrolia, former Team Canada pitcher Jeff Jones will make his first start for Sarnia.