After getting rocked the previous week in a two-game set with Academie Baseball du Canada the Stingers were set for another tough doubleheader this past Sunday when the ABC came to visit LaSalle Park in Lachine.
Concordia did have something going for them heading into the afternoon after taking two games against archival Laval the day before in the same location. Although they are made up of the best young ball players in Quebec, the ABC were in for more of a challenge then even they may have bargained for.
This surprise came in the form of Stinger’s pitcher Nat Thomas who, although having tossed the day before, was more than ready to put on one of the most impressive pitching displays one could hope to see at the university level.
Although Thomas would give little sign of struggling at any point during the game he was faced with having to cope with the five errors given up by his defence over the course of the game. Even though a couple of these would lead to early runs for the ABC it was still Concordia who was holding on to a shocking 3-2 going into the seventh inning.
Unfortunately the ABC finally awoke from their slumber at the last minute when they scored the tying run in the top of the seventh to force the game into extra innings.
Thomas continued to be the anchor holding the Stingers in the game as he continued to rack up the strikeouts and made a couple of good defensive plays to keep the hope alive for an upset of epic proportions.
Sadly, the ninth inning would bring an end to the bid as Concordia, with Thomas still throwing good pitches, gave up a pair of runs, one the result of an error, to trail 5-3.
The Stingers would be unable to muster up any further offensive potency as an 11 strikeout performance by Thomas would prove no match for the error plagued effort.
After the game Thomas spoke of how surprised he was about the way the game turned out. “I expected the game to gp seven innings. I’m really surprised we were still playing in the ninth.”
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