P.E.I. gets first win
Eight batters record hits versus New Brunswick
O’LEARY – Team P.E.I. moved into the win column at the Canadian under-18 male fastpitch championship on Thursday night.
The host squad posted a 12-2 victory over New Brunswick’s Taymouth Tigers to improve to 1-3 (won-lost) after two days of action in O’Leary.
P.E.I. spotted the visitors a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but roared to life with three runs in the bottom half of the inning, and seven more in the third. The mercy rule came into effect after P.E.I. pushed two more runs across home plate in the bottom of the fourth frame.
Winning pitcher Marshall Kulich batted 2-for-3, with a home run and two runs batted in, to lead the offence.
Eight of the 10 P.E.I. batters recorded hits, including Bennett MacArthur (2-2, three runs scored, RBI) and Patrick Young (2-4). They scattered 12 hits in 24 at-bats.
Kulich allowed two runs on four New Brunswick hits.
Tense moments
There were some tense moments in the game when the Tigers’ starting pitcher took a ball to the head.
P.E.I.’s Dawson Sellick hit a solid grounder to third and was in danger of getting thrown out at first, but the throw bounced off Benjamin Young’s head and dropped to the ground next to him as he crumpled over. After a team huddle, Young soldiered on. He faced three more batters, including Kulich’s home run that also drove Sellick home.
Young gave up seven runs on seven hits, and was relieved by Kyle Pond, who allowed five hits and five runs.
P.E.I. assistant coach Mike Craig was pleased with the offensive effort. Pointing out many of the team members are making the transition to softball from baseball, he said they are learning to shorten up on their swings, and are making better contact with the ball.
“They just have to keep their swing short and tight and get the heart of the bat on the ball,” he noted. “They’re a good bunch of athletes.
“They’re quick up there. They’ve got quick hands and there are no pitcher who is going to blow it by them.”
Play resumes at Ellis Field and Ellsworth Field on Friday morning.