Concordia’s offense was simply too much for Carleton University
The hot bats of the Concordia Stingers baseball team lead the team to decisive back-to-back mercy rule victories against the Carleton Ravens at Gary Carter field on Sept. 18. The Stingers won the first game of the day 13-3, and the second 11-1.
In the first game, it took the Stingers a couple of innings to get warmed up, but after falling behind 3-0 after an inning and a half of play, the Stingers began to chip away, eventually exploding for eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. They scored 13 unanswered runs, forcing mercy rule after six innings of play.
In Game two, the Stingers jumped on the Ravens early, taking a 6-0 lead after two innings. With another offensive explosion in the fourth inning, this time for five runs, the Stingers needed four and a half innings to mercy rule the Ravens again.
“A lot of timely hitting today is exactly what I know this team is capable of doing,” Stingers manager Howie Schwartz said. Schwartz added that the team was disciplined at the batter plate.
Every player who went up to bat for the Stingers got on base at least once, and they combined for a total of 26 hits in the two games. Centre-fielder Mathieu Paquette-Groulx led the charge in game one with three hits and four runs batted in (RBI’s), while catcher Dario Vincelli had two hits and led the team with three RBI’s in the second game.
The one cause for concern was the amount of walks allowed by the Stingers starting pitchers. “That’s been our nemesis the first six games,” Schwartz said. “We’re walking way too many guys, having a hard time finding the plate; a lot of mechanical issues.”
Stingers pitcher Dan Connerty lasted three and two thirds of an inning, walking seven batters, while pitcher Shane Mullen, in game two, walked three batters in only two innings before leaving the game with an apparent elbow injury. Despite the walks, Schwartz wasn’t worried about his pitchers.
“I have no problem,” Schwartz said. “They’ll come back, they’re much better than that, it’s not like them.”
One bright spot for the pitching staff was five year veteran Matthew Adams-Whitaker, who came in as relief for both games and closed them out. He totaled five and a third innings pitched between both games, allowing only one hit and one run. He now has three straight relief appearances where he has allowed one run or less.
“I’ve seen teams take a while to get the chemistry going—with this team it was right there, even from training camp. They just haven’t translated it onto the field yet,” Schwartz said.
However, Schwartz feels like Sunday might have been the start of something, telling his players after the game that “our season began today.”
The Stingers will have a chance to continue their momentum on Sept. 21, when they get to take on their divisional rivals the McGill Redmen at Gary Carter Field.
