Welland Chiefs on three-game win streak

Rust is a non-factor, arms are slinging at full speed and the peanuts and crackerjacks are fully cracked open in Week 5 of the Niagara District Senior Men’s Baseball league.

At the midway point of the season, no team in the league can break away from the pack.

The Welland Chiefs are on a threegame winning streak and have secured top spot this week at 5-2. With a win Tuesday night on the road against the Thorold Fantoms, they’re a half-game up on the three other teams looking straight ahead at them in the standings.

Those three teams in the rearview mirror, the Fort Erie Cannons, The Rose City Thorns and the Niagara Falls Expos, are all tied at 5-3. Fort Erie squandered their opportunities to pull away and went 1-2 in a week that saw them play three games.

The Thorns gave the St. Catharines Cobras just their second win of the season on Sunday night and dropped a 9-5 decision at home against the second-last placed team.

The Expos were able to squeak one out at home against the Cannons on Friday night. The rematch of last season’s championship series seemed all to familiar as Niagara Falls escaped with a 9-8 win.

Niagara Falls Falcons Juniors also played three games this week. They split the home-and-home against the Cannons and managed to come out with a 6-5 win over the Fantoms on Sunday afternoon to salvage a decent week.

Yes, that means the 0-6 team from Thorold will have to wait another week to get into the win column.

Finally, the Merritton Alliance won both their home games this week and are now in the mix at 4-4. With wins on Friday and Monday against the Rose City Thorns and St. Catharines Cobras respectively, the team based out of St. Catharines is starting to shape up after having some starters miss early games this season.

The feature game of the week for week five comes from the sandlot at Oakes Park in Fort Erie. The Niagara Falls Falcons Juniors rolled into town on Wednesday night hungry after a 5-1 loss to the Cannons on Sunday afternoon.

Kuderian goes the distance; stymies Cannon offense

The Niagara Falls Falcons Juniors defeated the Fort Erie Cannons 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Backed by a complete-game, tworun gem thrown by Falcons starting pitcher, Josh Kuderian, the Falcons used their early 3-0 advantage to tie a season-high second straight win.

“A win like this is perfect,” Falcons manager, John Hiltz said. “Blowout wins really are no good and blowout losses are no good. Close games bring the team together and you get more of a special feeling when you win those games.”

The southpaw must have felt something against the Cannons offense. He was stellar and pitched seven innings, giving up just six hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts and a pair of walks in his third start of the season.

“I just had to keep the ball low and keep them off balance,” Kuderian said. “We’re just coming up. Our hitting is turning around, pitching is coming together, our defense is solid. There’s not too many teams that can beat us now. We’re starting to roll.”

Niagara Falls got rolling fast, getting walks issued to their first two batters of the game before Cannon’s starter, Blair McNeil could even dig his cleats in. A passed ball put runners in scoring position for shortstop Darrin Geska, who delivered a two-RBI single to take the early lead.

A run in third is all they would need to give Fort Erie its third loss of the season. McNeil would only last two and two-thirds innings before being replaced by Cam Hall. The right-hander scattered three earned runs, allowed four hits and walked six batters with one strikeout in his first start of the year.

The play of the game came in the fifth inning. Cannons had the bases loaded with nobody out when Kuderian induced a double-play ball that was converted to perfection. The lefty would strike out the DH, Pat Giampaolo in the next at bat to allow just one run in the inning and keep the game at 3-2.

Kuderian retired the last eight batters he faced, not to be outdone by his counterpart in the Cannons’ uniform.

Hall nearly took over the game, shutting out the Falcon bats with just five hits, five strikeouts and no walks in four and a third innings. The offense simply could not solve the Falcons ace.

“I think (Kuderian) threw a good game. He was mixing his speeds and kept us off balance and his fastball was live tonight.” Cannon’s manager Justin Hall said. “He’s a good arm. It’s the first time we’ve really seen him… This is a competitive league and teams are getting better.”

This is just the third time this season the Cannons have been held to less than five runs. They are 1-2 in such games and will look to avoid the same fate on Wednesday night against Merritton.

As for the Falcons, their next test comes in the form of the first-place Welland Chiefs, who will visit the Falcons in Chippawa on Sunday.