by: A.P. Beauregard, www.namur-angels.be
Pitching, pitching, pitching. We’ve all heard the clichés about team building, winning championships, and why it’s no coincidence that the man with the ball is assigned position # 1 on the scoresheet. Worn out or not, the old adages held true when the Namur Angels and the Brasschaat Braves squared off in a pair of games on the weekend of June 12-13. The teams would split the series with both games holding strong mound work as the theme throughout.
Saturday’s game in Brasschaat went 4-2 to the hometown Braves. Although Angel starter Shouta Ichinoseki turned in a very solid showing himself (a complete game 4 run, 4 strikeout outing) it was not enough to match the line of Brasschaat’s Clayton Cooper: complete game, 3 hits allowed, 13 strikeouts.
Offensively, the Braves were led at the plate by Hans Heyrman, Tim Maes, and Alberto Valerio, each player picking up two hits while Heyrman included a home run in his day.
Namur, which mustered only 3 hits total, was led by Ludovic Geuquet’s 2-4 and Theodore De Bellefroid’s one hit, a solo home run over the wall in left-center in the eighth inning.
Sunday’s game in Namur was a chance at redemption for the home team, and hoping to stay in the thick of things for the playoffs, the Angels seized the opportunity in a 7-5 win.
The victory truly was a collective effort as each man in the Namur lineup hit safely on the day, headlined by Ludovic Geuquet (2-2) and Jerome Sana and Matthieu Deltombe, both 2-4.
As effective as the Angels offense was, starter Cedric Desmedt was even sharper. The hard throwing righty carried a no-hitter through six innings before finally giving way to the strong relief pitching of Nicolas Migeot who ensured Desmedt’s performance would not go to waste. As team wins go, Namur can certainly chalk this one up to the top of the list.
Visiting Brasschaat saw 2-4 days at the plate each from Hans Heyrman, Jilles Sel, and Jef De Belder.
{mrb-result:2010-06-12|2010-06-13|BE}
{mrb-standing:belgium-2010}