by A.P. Beauregard, www.namur-angels.be
Knowing that in order to maintain the possibility of a playoff berth they needed to, at minimum, register a split decision in their weekend series with Hoboken; the Namur Angels did just that taking the Sunday game in what is only the second defeat of the year for the Pioneers.
Saturday’s game, June 26th, was a pitchers’ contest from the outset as Terrence Antonacci of Hoboken squared off against fellow right-hander Shouta Ichinoseki of Namur. The game moved along in what can be best described as a typical baseball rhythm, sharp pitching quieting the offense while good defensive play stymied any attempt at collective outbursts of scoring. Unfortunately for the home Angels, this meant the short end of the stick in a 6-1 defeat. Hoboken registered runs in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th innings and left the rest to Antonacci who went eight quality innings in picking up the win. In support of their starter the Pioneers were led offensively by second baseman Dennis Ribbens whose 2-3 at the plate anchored a seven-hit attack. Namur also was able to collect seven hits; two coming off the bat of Adrien Geuquet, who counted a double amongst his 2-4 afternoon.
The sense of urgency was palpable on Sunday as the Angels knew that a consecutive defeat would make elimination an ironclad certainty. Luckily for them, the man with the ball led the initiative and set the tone for his teammates to follow in the form of 8 2/3 innings pitched, 4 strikeouts, and only 3 runs allowed. While Cedric Desmedt no doubt played center stage, he was buoyed by a potent and aggressive offense that supported him throughout. Gracjan Kraszewski went 3-5 while Thomas Vandenabeele, Theodore De Bellefroid, and Ludovic Geuquet all had 2-5 days at the plate. Hoboken was led at the plate by centerfielder Steven De Lannoy who contributed a 2-3 outing to his team’s offense. The final score read 8-3 Namur.
With a six week break ahead, Namur is off until August 7th, all the Angels can do is watch and wait. At 10-12 they remain in 5th place in the playoff hunt, currently on the outside looking in, however their win on Sunday was perhaps the team’s most important victory all year. If things ahead of them in the standings shuffle around and they can pull off a sweep of 2nd place Antwerp on the final weekend, perhaps the Angels will look back to Sunday’s victory as the catalyst for a journey into the postseason.
{mrb-result:2010-06-26|2010-06-27|BE}
{mrb-standing:belgium-2010}