Concordia remains winless in four games this season
The Concordia Stingers baseball team remained winless after a 3-1 loss to the McGill Redmen on Sept. 13. On a night when offence was at a premium, Concordia centerfielder Jimi Audain was the shining star.
Audain hit first in Concordia’s lineup, otherwise known as the lead-off hitter. At the plate, Audain
had a hit, two walks, two steals and a run. Unfortunately, his great game didn’t translate into a
win, largely due to the Stingers’ inability to hit with runners in scoring position. Audain stressed that this issue is something the team has noticed and is trying to improve.
“It’s all about having good at-bats,” Audain said. “We definitely need some [practice] in that area. [Hitting with runners in scoring position is] a big key to our team.”
The starting pitching has been a bright spot for the team so far this season. Once again, starter Jackson Morgan gave the Stingers a chance to win. Morgan ran into some trouble in the fourth and fifth innings, but he still managed to pitch a decent game.
He went 4 ⅔ innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and three walks. All three runs came in the fourth inning, as he allowed a run batted in (RBI) single, and walked two batters with the bases loaded.
In an incident in the fourth inning, the home plate umpire had some words for Stingers catcher Juliano Leggio.
“Some umpires take their authoritarian stance more seriously than others,” Morgan said after the game. “He wanted to set the tone, and I understand, but I felt like he was being a little unreasonable.”
However, Morgan said he doesn’t blame the umpire for the incident: “Human error is a huge part of baseball, and it’s just something we have to deal with.”
In the top of the fifth, Jackson again ran into trouble, allowing two singles and a walk before being pulled in favour of relief pitcher Justin Benoit. Morgan said he had some issues with his strike zone.
“It seemed like the [umpire] was squeezing me a bit, and I had to find a way to adjust,” Morgan said.
Stingers manager Howie Schwartz gave great credit to Redmen pitcher Phil Saad, who threw a complete game with 13 strikeouts and only three hits.
“[Saad] is a bonafide pitcher,” Schwartz said. “When a pitcher throws 13 strikeouts in a game, you know he’s on.”
Although his team dropped to 0-4 on the season, Schwartz did see improvement.
“I really think our bats are starting to move,” he said. “They’re still striking out, but their swings are much better.”
The manager said he wasn’t concerned about the team’s struggles either: “We have 15 rookies on the team […] and when you look at our scores, 0-4 really should be 2-2.”
Looking to the weekend double-header against the Ottawa Gee-Gees, Schwartz is expecting his team’s hitters to wake up.
“I think our bats will be very strong against [Ottawa],” he said. “I don’t think they have a very
strong pitching staff.”
The Concordia Stingers next two games will be against the Ottawa Gee-Gees in a double-header on Sept. 16.
Main photo by Ben Fraser.
