Tough weekend
Sydney Sooners drops three of four games on the road
The Sydney Sooners dropped three of four games on a weekend road trip that included a pair of Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League stops.
“We’re pretty worn right now, that’s five of six weekends (on the road) and I have an appreciation for these athletes that professionally have to travel so much,” said Sooners manager Jim (Rico) McEachern. “We’re pretty happy to be coming home. We have 10 games left and we’re going to try and see that we can do the best with those 10 games.”
Sunday at the TAAC Grounds in Truro, the Sooners suffered an 8-6 setback to the Truro Bearcats in the getaway game of a doubleheader after posting a convincing 10-0 victory in seven innings in the opener.
In Game 2, the last-place Bearcats (5-18) were led by John Chapman, who hit a triple and two singles. Matt Mingo swatted two doubles, while Jason Smith had a pair of hits.
For Sydney, Mike Tobin had two doubles and a single while Cory Christie had two hits and drove in three runs.
On the mound, Brandon Mallaly picked up the win after entering the game in the seventh. Sheldon Macdonald took the loss.
It was all Sydney in the opener. Justin Brewer pitched the win, allowing only two hits and striking out four over his seven innings of work. Jason Smith took the loss.
Tobin hit a double and two singles for the Sooners, Jordon Shepherd launched a solo homer and added a single, Chris Farrow recorded a triple and a single, while Christie, Jordan Sampson and Kenny Long hit a double and a single apiece.
Jeff Chisholm with a double and Adam Lombard with a single were the lone Truro hitters.
Saturday, the Sooners dropped both games of a doubleheader against the fourth-place Kentville Wildcats (8-14) at Memorial Park in Kentville.
In the second game of the set, Sydney was doubled, 6-3. Adam MacDonald took the loss with relief from Long. Alex Ostrov pitched the win and David McIntyre recorded the save.
At the plate, Wes Harding paced the Wildcats with three singles, while Codey Shrider launched a solo homer in the first inning. Jason Pleasant-Sampson had a triple, a double and two RBI. For Sydney, Josh Forrest had a double and a single and Farrow hit a triple.
The opener saw the Sooners clipped 6-5 in 11 innings, as the Wildcats scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by David McIntyre.
Harding had three singles, Jamie Whynot hit a double and a single. Sydney’s top bat was Long with a double and a single. Farrow and Shepherd each swatted a double.
On the hill, Andrew Chase picked up the win, while Long took the loss after entering the game in the 10th for starter Reilly O’Rourke.
The second-place Sooners (12-10) return home to host the third-place Halifax Molson Pelham Canadians (9-9) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at the Susan McEachern Memorial Ball Park. Sydney’s last 10 games will be at home.
“A number of situations over the last six weeks, we probably haven’t been at the top of our game,” said McEachern. “Hopefully, heading home, we can collectively get ourselves refocused and see if we can get ourselves into some kind of winning ways in the last 10 games.”