by Namur Angels, www.namur-angels.be
Angels Blank Stars in Seven
The Namur Angels backed a great pitching performance with stellar defense and timely hitting to earn their tenth victory of the season. The game was called after the seventh inning due to the mercy rule, as the Angels cruised to a 10-0 win over the Mortsel Stars. Starter Jake Hummel was spectacular as he threw all seven innings, giving up just three hits, two walks, and he struck out four.
The Angels jumped ahead in the second inning off the bat of Vincent King, who led off the frame with a single. Williams Rosario then hit a ground ball to first base that Stars first baseman Steve De Saedeleer fired to second to start the double play. However, the ball was bobbled at shortstop and trickled into centerfield, allowing King to advance to third. Rosario stole second to put runners at second and third for right fielder Cedric Nauts, who was plunked in the back with a fastball and loaded the bases. Jerome Sana then stepped to the plate with bases loaded and no outs, and delivered a single to right to score King from third. After a strikeout by Ludovic Geuquet, catcher Tom Gerard hit a groundball to second base to start a 4-6-3 double play, but he beat the throw to first to plate Rosario for the Angels second run.
Namur produced another two run inning in the top of the fifth when Thomas Vandenabeele ripped a one out single to right. Second baseman Greg Van Sickler followed with a single of his own on a hit and run through the right side to advance Vandenabeele to third base. With runners at first and third, Hummel laced a double into the left center gap to plate two more runs.
The Angels broke the game open in the top of the seventh with six runs in the inning. Vandenabeele again started the scoring with a leadoff single to right, followed by Van Sickler’s single to left. Hummel then took a curve ball in the back to load the bases. Before Vincent King could put the ball in play, an outside fastball skipped off the catcher to the backstop to score one. King then ripped a line drive into centerfield to plate Van Sickler. After Rosario then walked to load the bases, Nauts hit a groundball to third base. Stars third baseman Cedric Vanseompele came up throwing home, but the throw was wide and bounced to the backstop, scoring Hummel and King, who was hustling all the way from second. Jerome Sana delivered a single to center to score Rosario for the fifth run of the inning and his second RBI of the game. The final run came off the bat of Geuquet, who grounded out to shortstop to plate Nauts.
The Stars had an opportunity to scratch a run across in the bottom of the seventh after Cedric Vandesompele hit a leadoff double to left center. However, that is as far as the Stars would get, as Hummel retired the next three batters in order to pick up his seventh win of the season. Hummel was in complete control of the game from the start. He did not allow a batter to reach third base until the seventh inning.
Offensively, the Angels had great production up and down the lineup. Van Sickler, King, and Sana all had two hits on the day. VanDenabeele was 3-5 with two runs scored.
Angels Take Game Two
The Namur Angels continued their winning ways Sunday afternoon with an 8-2 victory over the host Mortsel Stars. The Angels used two big key innings to earn their eleventh win of the season. Namur starter Kevin Desmedt pitched the first five innings of the game. He allowed no runs on three hits, walked two, and struck out one.
The Angels jumped out of the gate early with a three run first inning. Thomas Vandenabeele and Greg Van Sickler drew back-to-back walks to start the game. They executed a great double steal to advance both runners into scoring position. Right fielder Jake Hummel was unable to advance them any further with an infield groundout. Designated hitter Vincent King drew a walk to load the bases. Williams Rosario then hit a groundball to second base that looked to start a 4-6-3 double play, but the ball was bobbled at second and the only play was to retire Rosario at first base, allowing Vandenabeele to score. With runners at second and third and two outs, catcher Luke Auger in his European debut delivered a single through the right side to plate Van Sickler and King.
The Angels added one run in the third after Hummel drew a one out walk and advanced to third on King’s double to the right center gap. Rosario stepped to the plate and hit a long line drive foul ball down the right field line. The ball was caught in foul territory, however Hummel was attentively tagging at third and scored on the sacrifice fly.
Namur’s other big inning came in the top of the fourth. Auger got things started with a single to left field, followed by an infield single from shortstop Theodore De Bellefroid. First baseman Ludovic Geuquet hit a groundball to deep third base. The throw across the diamond was short and skipped past the Stars first baseman, allowing Auger to score, De Bellefroid to advance to third, and Geuquet to trot to second. With runners at second and third, Stars starter Steve De Saedeleer balked in De Bellefroid for the sixth Angels run. After a strikeout, leadoff Vandenabeele hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Geuquet.
The final Namur run came in the eighth inning when Vandenabeele drew a one out walk. While Van Sickler was at the plate, he took off for second. The throw was wide and skipped into centerfield, allowing Vandenabeele to advance to third. With a runner at third and one out, Van Sickler hit a high fly ball to center field that scored Vandenabeele.
The Stars scored their two runs in the sixth inning after a leadoff walk to Lieven Buerms issued by Angels reliever Nicolas Migeot. Migeot came on for Desmedt in the sixth inning. He gave up the two runs on four hits and one walk in his four innings of work. A sacrifice bunt moved Buerms over to second base. A groundball from Cedric Van De Sompele placed deep in the hole at shortstop was fielded cleanly by De Bellefroid, who elected to throw to third base, as Buerme took off on the hit. The throw was high and both runners were safe. The next batter, Nguyen Diaz hit a groundball to De Bellefroid deep in the hole again. The throw across the diamond short hopped Geuquet at first base and skipped past him. The initial error allowed Buerms to score the first Stars run. Van De Sompele made his way to third base on the errant throw, however Diaz took off for second. Geuquet threw to Van Sickler at second to retire Diaz, but Van De Sompele crossed for the second run.
For the Angels, Vincent King was 3-4 with a double and Luke Auger was 2-5 with two RBI on the day.
Angels Fend Off Late Rally
The Namur Angels survived a late game rally from the Mortsel Stars to pick up their twelfth win of the season and complete the three game weekend sweep. Angels starter Greg Van Sickler picked up the win after running into trouble in the fourth inning. After three efficient innings of work, Van Sickler lost command in the middle innings, but was bailed out by great defense to secure his first European win on the mound.
The Angels jumped ahead early in the game again with a two run first inning. Jake Hummel started the two out rally when he hit a groundball the third base that the Stars third baseman could not handle. Vincent King then ripped a groundball through the left side for a single. With runners at first and second and two outs, Williams Rosario hit a groundball single to left field that the Stars left fielder misplayed. The ball hit off his glove and trickled to the wall. Both Hummel and King came around to score on the play.
Namur posted a three run second inning when Cedric Nauts singled to left to start the inning. Ludovic Geuquet attempted a sacrifice bunt to advance Nauts, but Stars starting pitcher Nguyen Boulet Diaz got to it quickly and fired to second to retire Nauts. Van Sickler stepped up with Geuquet at first and laced a double to the right center gap, advancing Geuquet to third. Second baseman Theodore De Bellefroid singled to right to score Geuquet, Van Sickler was held at third. Hummel got a free pass to load the bases for King, who singled to left to score Van Sickler and De Bellefroid.
In the top of the fourth, the Angels scored four to go up 9-0. Van Sickler got things started with a single to left and then stole second base. De Bellefroid followed with a hard groundball through the left side. With runners at the corners, Hummel singled to right to plate Van Sickler. King stepped up and flew out to deep right center to advance De Bellefroid to third base. Rosario walked to load the bases, and with the bases loaded and one out, catcher Luke Auger hit a groundball to third that looked to start an inning ending double play. However, the throw to second was wide and bounced into center field. De Bellefroid and Hummel both scored on the play and Rosario advanced to third. Jerome Sana plated the final run of the inning when he hit a groundball to short to start the 6-4-3 double play. However, Auger with a good hard slide broke up the double play and Sana was safe at first, with Rosario coming across home plate.
The Angels jumped out to a 9-0 lead through the first four innings, but were held scoreless the remainder of the game. Van Sickler ran into trouble in the fourth when he issued back-to-back walks. After striking out first baseman Steve De Saedeleer, Kevin Van De Perre singled to right field to load the bases. Catcher Alain Meseure stepped to the plate and hit a groundball that started a 4-6-3 double play and Van Sickler escaped the inning unscathed.
The big inning for the Stars came in the sixth inning after Van Sickler gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases. On a 3-2 count, Van Sickler missed wide with a fastball and walked in the first run for the Stars. Van De Perre hit a high chopper between the mound and third base that Van Sickler fielded and could only retire him at first, scoring another run. Meseure singled to left to plate the third run of the inning. Pitcher Nguyen Boulet Diaz singled up the middle plate the fourth run for the Stars. Van Sickler was able to get an infield fly and a pop out to first base to end the inning. He was relieved after six innings of work, giving up those four runs on seven hits, walked four, and struck out seven. Cedric Desmedt came on to throw the final three innings. The Stars cut the lead to two after scoring two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth. They had the bases loaded again in the seventh, but Desmedt induced an inning ending 6-4-3 double play to prevent any further scoring. Desmedt finished the three innings giving up three runs on four hits, three walks, and he struck out two.
The Angels played stellar defense the entire weekend series. In three games against the Stars, Namur turned five double plays, three of which were inning ending in very key situations. The Angels improve to 12-4 on the season and face the Brasschaat Braves on Thursday evening.