Mister Baseball

by Namur Angels, www.namur-angels.be

Fifth Inning Fireworks in Namur Win

The Namur Angels collected 16 hits and capitalized on 14 walks issued by the Antwerp Eagles on their way to their seventh victory of the season Saturday afternoon. After a back and forth game for four innings, Namur would rally ahead to post a 27-11 victory to stay atop the league standings.

In the top of the first inning, second baseman Greg Van Sickler hit a one out double to lead things off for Namur. Starting pitcher Jake Hummel then singled to left, and an error by the Eagles left fielder allowed Van Sickler to score the first run of the game. Williams Rosario, the singled to move Hummel over to third base. Vincent King stepped to the plate and delivered a single through the left side to plate Hummel. Shortstop Jerome Sana plated King with a single to right. The Angels scored three in the first and added another in the second inning as catcher Tom Gerard and centerfielder Thomas Vandenabeele drew back-to-back walks to leadoff the inning. Unfortunately, Van Sickler grounded into a 6-3 double play, although advancing Gerard to third. After Hummel walked to put runners on the corners with two outs, Rosario hit what looked to be an inning ending groundball to the left side of the infield. However, Eagles third baseman Kenneth Overmeire could not make a clean throw to first and Gerard was able to score from third.

Although Namur jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, the Eagles were able to answer in the bottom of the first with one run off starter Jake Hummel. Joren De Smet singled to left to leadoff the inning. After two consecutive 1-3 groundouts, De Smet was able to advance to third base with two outs. Mikk Uten then hit a groundball up the middle that Van Sickler could not handle and De Smet scored on the error. Hummel was able to retire the next batter on a 1-3 groundout to prevent any further damage in the inning. He made all three outs in the inning himself, including a web gem nominee on a hotshot groundball he barehanded and threw to first base. The Eagles would scratch two more runs across the board in the bottom of the second.

Kevin Reyns hit a one out single to left, followed by a Dennis Nicles single to right. A pass ball moved both runners into scoring position. Steve Selis then grounded out to second base, scoring Reyns and advancing Nicles to third. Another pass ball allowed Nicles to score. Through the first two innings, the score was in favor of Namur 4-3.

Neither team scored in the third and fourth innings, but the game burst wide open in the top of the fifth when Namur sent 18 men to the plate in the frame. Jerome Sana hit a beautiful one out drag bunt just inside the third base line to get things started for the Angels. After Ludovic Geuquet walked, Tom Gerard attempted to lay down another drag to the left side, but was thrown out at first base. With two outs the lineup turned over and Thomas Vandenabeele walked to load the bases for Van Sickler. The second baseman delivered with a bases clearing double to left field and put Namur up 7-3. However, they were far from finished in the inning. Hummel and Rosario both walked to load the bases for Vincent King, who hit a screaming one hopper just inside the third base line to plate two more runs. Namur would take advantage of nine walks in the inning to push across 13 runs in the top of the fifth. All nine starters saw two at bats in the frame. The Angels scored all 13 runs with two outs. Namur would tack on another run in the sixth inning.

The angels took a commanding 18-3 heading into the last third of the baseball game. Hummel was taken out after five complete innings of work. He gave up six hits, three runs (two earned), struck out five, and did not walk a batter on his way to his fifth victory of the season. The Angels brought in left-hander Stephane Daspremont, who worked a perfect 1-2-3 sixth inning. However, the wheels came off, as Daspremont could not find the strike zone to start the seventh inning. The Eagles would score eight runs in the bottom half of the seventh, capitalizing on eight walks issued by Daspremont. After failing to record an out in the seventh, Namur turned to Greg Van Sickler, who gave up a single and then struck out the next three batters to end the dismal seventh.

With the lead cut to seven, Namur responded in the eighth by adding nine more runs to seal the victory. Van Sickler finished the eighth inning, striking out the first two batters and a groundout to third to end the game. He finished 4-7 with two doubles and four RBI. Hummel reached base safely five times, as he was 2-4 with three walks. Jerome Sana reached base safely in all of his seven at bats. He finished the day 3-3 with four walks. With the win, the Angels improve to 7-2 on the season and will look to complete the weekend series on Sunday.

Angels Give Eagles First Win of Season

After a great offensive day on Saturday, the Angels were yet again unable to produce much offense in a Sunday contest as Namur fell to the Antwerp Eagles 4-3. It is the first win of the season for the Eagles.

The first runs for both clubs came in the third inning. For Namur, Jake Hummel delivered a two out single to center, followed by a Williams Rosario walk. With runners at first and second, Vincent King hit a single through the right side, and a fielding error by right fielder Yan Carlos Martinez allowed Hummel to score from second and advanced Rosario to third. Theodore De Bellefroid drew a walk to load the bases, but the threat was ended when Adrien Geuquet flew out to left field. The Eagles answered with a run in the bottom of the frame when Steve Selis singled to left field. Desmedt struck out the next batter. With one out and a runner at first, the Eagles executed a perfect hit and run through the right side that advanced Selis to third and put runners on the corners. Before center fielder Zeno Dewoyer could put the ball in play, Desmedt was called for a balk and the first run for the Eagles crossed the plate. Desmedt was able to get out of the inning with a fly out to first and a groundout to second base.

Namur scored again in the top of the fourth. Ludovic Geuquet hit a groundball to third base, but an errant throw to first allowed him to reach safely. Tom Gerard then grounded out to second base, but the only play was Gerard at first. With a runner at second, Thomas Vandenabeele hit a groundball through the right side, advancing Geuquet to third base. With Van Sickler at the plate, Vandenabeele took off on the first pitch and stole second base safely. With runners now at second and third, Van Sickler hit a high fly ball to center field, deep enough to plate Geuquet for the Angels second run. Hummel then walked to put runners on first and second, but Rosario grounded out to third base to end the inning.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the fifth inning, the Eagles tied the game when Steve Selis drew a one out walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. After a fly out to first base, Desmedt issued back-to-back walks to load the bases. With two outs and bases loaded, four-hole hitter Kevin Reyns slapped a single to left to plate one run. Yan Carlos Martinez flew out to second base to end the inning without any further damage. Desmedt was relieved after five complete innings of work. He allowed two runs on six hits, three walks, and struck out three. His reliever was right hander Nicolas Migeot, who would stay in to pitch the remainder of the game for the Angels.

In the top of the sixth, with the score tied 2-2, Van Sickler stepped to the plate and laced a one out line drive solo home run over the left field fence to put the Angels up by one. His efforts would be spoiled, as the Eagles were able to plate two runs in the seventh inning to take a 4-3 lead. Joren Desmet led off after being hit by a pitch. He then stole second base shortly thereafter. Mikka Uten then hit a one hopper right back to Migeot, who checked Desmet at second to stop him from advancing to third, but took too long to do so, and tried to make a quick throw to first, but was not in time and Uten was called safe. With no outs and runners at first and second, Zeno Dewoyer executed a perfect slash and run, as he laced a line drive over the head of left fielder Adrien Geuquet to plate two runs.

The Angels did make it stressful in the last two innings for the Eagles. In the eighth, pinch hitter Jerome Sana stepped to the plate with bases loaded and two outs. He laced an outside fastball line drive into right field, but it stayed up too long and was caught to end the threat. In the ninth, Theodore De Bellefroid hit a one out single into right to put the tying run aboard. After Adrien Geuquet flew out to deep left center for the second out, Ludovic Geuquet hit a groundball to shortstop for what appeared to be the game ending out. However, the throw could not be handled by the Eagles first baseman and Geuquet and Bellefroid were safely aboard. Tom Gerard stepped to the plate with the go ahead run on first, but grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

With the loss, the Angels fall to 7-3 on the season. They are back in action on Thursday against the Stars.