Wildcats up 2-0 coming home Series moves to Memorial Park Saturday
Wildcats are in the driver’s seat in their Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League semifinal series against the Sydney Sooners.
Kentville topped Sydney 12-10 Sept. 1 and 10-0 Sept. 2 to take a commanding 20 lead in the best-of-five series.
On Saturday in Sydney, the Wildcats had to come from behind to earn the victory. Kentville led 5-1 after three innings, but Sydney responded with an eight-run fourth to take a 9-5 lead.
The Wildcats scored three runs in the top of the fifth, but Sydney got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning to lead 10-8 after five. Kentville secured the win with three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth.
Kevin Nichols earned the victory in relief of starter Alex Tufts. Cody Shrider got the final out of the eighth inning, then pitched a scoreless ninth to earn a save. Anthony Ianetti, the second of three Sydney pitchers, took the loss.
On a windy day at Susan MacEachern Park, the teams combined for 28 hits - 16 by Kentville, 12 by Sydney - and six home runs.
Shrider led off the game with a home run, and Trevor Wamback homered in the second. After Sydney’s eight- run fourth, in which they sent 11 men to the plate and had back- to- back homers, Mike Lockhart hit a three-run homer in the fifth.
Shrider had two singles to go along with his homer, Wamback added two singles and a double to his round-tripper. Shrider had two RBI, Wamback three and Mike Lockhart four on two singles and the three-run homer. Cory Christie, Justin Brewer and Paul Doucette all homered for Sydney, with Doucette driving in four runs.
Sunday dawned with warm temperatures and calm conditions, but there was no relief for the Sooners from the Kentville offence. Curtis Falls opened the scoring with a second- inning homer to the opposite field, and Rob Shepherd, playing in place of injured Billy MacKenzie, had a three-run shot in the fourth.
Shepherd also came up with the defen- sive play of the game, reaching over the right field wall to rob Cory Christie of a homer. The play seemed to demoralize the Sooners, who mounted little offence after that.
Kentville kept going, tacking on a sixrun eighth inning for a 10-0 lead. After the Sooners went out in the bottom of the eighth, the game was called under the NSSBL 10-run mercy rule.
Shayne Conrad pitched into the eighth inning and departed having not allowed a run. Alex Tufts took over, and ended up combining with winning pitcher Conrad on a three-hit shutout. Sydney starter Paul Doucette took the loss, as the Wildcats finished with 10 runs on 14 hits.
Josh Parker had a solid game on both sides of the ball, hitting three singles and throwing out two would-be base stealers with strong throws from behind the plate.
Mike Lockhart, Kevin Matheson and Shrider each had two singles and Shepherd added a single to his home run. Matheson and Ian Lockhart both played outstanding defence throughout the weekend games.
The Wildcats are expected to send Trevor Wamback to the mound for game three.