Mister Baseball

by Namur Angels, www.namur-angel.be

The Namur Angels took the first contest of a two game weekend set on Saturday against the Borgerhout Squirrels. On the way to their second straight win, the Angels’ top performer of the afternoon could again be found on the pitcher’s mound. In another low scoring affair, Angels’ hurler Harold Gerard outperformed his pitching counterpart Yannick Gontier as each starter went the full nine innings on the afternoon.

The Squirrels only had two runners reach second base on the day, the first occasion coming in the bottom of the third. After quickly retiring the first two batters of the frame Gerard then surrendered a single through the right side of the infield off the bat of Squirrels’ second baseman Lorenzo Oeyen. Oeyen then stole second giving Borgerhout a runner in scoring position with two outs, but the Angels’ southpaw battled back and extinguished the scoring chance by striking out the next batter.

Namur had runners on base in seven of the nine innings on the afternoon, but only managed to put runs on the board in the top of the sixth. The frame began with a leadoff single to center by Angels’ catcher Ronny Heymans. He quickly advanced to second after Namur’s shortstop Henry Perkins singled up the middle giving the Angels runners on first and second with no outs. Heymans then advanced to third on a catcher’s pickoff to second gone awry and he promptly scored on a grounder to short that retired Perkins at second and left Jerome Sana safe at first reaching on the fielder’s choice. Sana advanced to second after a groundout off the bat of Vincent King and then scored from second on a triple to right by Angels’ left fielder Zach Potter. Potter was left stranded on third but the damage had been done and the Angels took a 2-0 lead.

With the lead Gerard continued his dominance and only allowed two more base runners in the final four innings of the game. After nine full innings of play the Angels were on the winning side of a 2-0 final. On the day Angels’ pitcher Harold Gerard had ten strikeouts and only two walks while Squirrels’ hurler Yannick Gontier fanned ten and walked four in the losing effort.

Gerard’s complete game shutout marks the Angels’ second such performance in as many games. Angels’ catcher Ronny Heymans had two hits and reached base safely five times on the day. Lorenzo Oeyen, who recorded one hit and one stolen base, led the Squirrels’ offensive effort.

In game two of the series the Angels continued their winning ways, and for the first time of this still very young season offense was the name of the game. In the first half inning of the afternoon Angels’ pitcher Zachary Potter struck out the first three Squirrel batters and the Angels bats followed suit, posting an impressive performance in the first as well.

After the Angels’ leadoff man was retired the offensive assault began when Angels’ centerfielder Nicolas Migeot reached on an error by the Squirrels’ shortstop. Angels’ shortstop Henry Perkins then lined a single up the middle moving Migeot to second. Cleanup batter Jerome Sana then singled to left plating Migeot while Perkins moved to third. With runners on first and third and one out the Angels’ third baseman Vincent King grounded a ball to second that allowed Perkins to just beat the throw to the plate, increasing the lead to 2-0.

Zachary Potter then stepped to the plate with two runners on and still only one out. Potter blasted the first pitch he saw from the Squirrels’ pitcher Louis Larrinaga over the left-center field fence for a three-run homer. Despite the next two Angels being retired, the team had taken a commanding 5-0 lead after just one inning of play.

Potter continued his dominance on the mound, allowing only one run on one hit for the entire afternoon. The Angels bats stayed hot and added three runs in the fourth and put up another five-spot in the sixth. After six and a half innings the Angels held a commanding 13-1 lead and, as per the written rule, the game was then called because of the more than ten-run score differential.

With the victory the Angels notched their third straight win and swept their first opponent of the season. Potter got the victory for the Angels, throwing seven innings and tallying ten K’s while Larrinaga took the loss for the Squirrels’ after 4 2/3 innings pitched. Henry Perkins, Zachary Potter, and Nicolas Migeot each had three hits on the day for the Angels, while Potter also record six RBI’s. The Squirrels’ only hit came off the bat of center fielder Matthew Latta who also had a stolen base and a run scored. The Angels will be back in action in Namur on Saturday, May 2nd against the Mortsel Stars.

	Time	Home	Visitor	Result
Saturday, April 25 2009
	15:30	Hoboken Pioneers	Port of Antwerp Greys	06:03
	15:30	Brasschaat Braves	Brussels Kangaroos	22:01
	15:30	K. Mortsel Stars	The Merchtem Cats	04:06
	15:30	K. Borgerhout Squirrels	Namur Angels	00:02
Sunday, April 26 2009
	15:30	Port of Antwerp Greys	Hoboken Pioneers	04:03
	15:30	The Merchtem Cats	K. Mortsel Stars	11:04
	15:30	Namur Angels	K. Borgerhout Squirrels	13:01
	15:30	Brussels Kangaroos	Brasschaat Braves	04:10

Standings