by Namur Angels, www.namur-angels.be
Angels fall short in their comeback bid.
The Namur Angels fell short of a victory Saturday afternoon, despite a late game rally against the Borgerhout Squirrels. The Angels found themselves at a deficit early and were unable to bail themselves out as they lost 9-6.
The Squirrels jumped to an early five run lead in the second inning off of Angels starter Cedric Desmedt. Squirrels second baseman William Gilmore drew a one out walk to start the frame. He was followed by Sam Boermans’ single to right and advanced to third. Boerman stole second to put runners at second and third with one out. Desmedt was called for a balk and the first run for the Squirrels crossed the plate. Boermans then touched home two pitches later on a passed ball. Desmedt, struggling with control, then walked the bases loaded. He induced a groundball in the hole between first and second, Van Sickler fired to second for the first out, but the throw back across the diamond short hopped first baseman Ludovic Geuquet and skipped to the fence, allowing two runs to score. The fifth run came across via passed ball, and the Squirrels were up 5-0 in the second inning. Cedric Desmedt was pulled in the second inning, having given up five runs on two hits while walking seven. His reliever, Kevin Desmedt, would throw the next six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits, and walking one.
The Squirrels added one run in the sixth and three more in the seventh inning for their total on the day.
The Angels started their late game surge in the bottom of the sixth inning. Van Sickler began the rally with a leadoff solo home run to left field. After two outs that followed, Williams Rosario hit a double to the right center gap. Luke Auger followed with a double of his own to the same spot, plating Rosario. Jerome Sana then ripped yet another double to the alley in right center to plate Auger. The scoring was halted after Geuquet grounded out to third to end the inning.
Namur added two runs in the seventh inning thanks to a leadoff single by Adrien Geuquet. Van Sickler was unable to advance Geuquet with a fly out to right field, but Jake Hummel followed with a single of his own. A balk from Squirrels starter Yannick Gontier put runners at second and third for Vincent King. King delivered with a double to left field to plate both Hummel and Geuquet.
Trailing 9-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth, Cedric Nauts singled to center, and the ball was misplayed to allow Nauts to advance to second on the error. Adrien Geuquet grounded out to second to advance Nauts to third. Van Sickler singled to left to score Nauts and cut the Squirrels lead to three. However, Gontier recorded the final two outs via fly out and strike out to end the game.
Van Sickler finished the day 4-5 with a home run and two runs batted in. King was 2-5 while also driving in a pair. With the loss, the Angels fall to 13-5 on the season and complete their weekend series on Sunday afternoon.
Angels split the series behind Van Sickler’s 11 strikeouts
The Angels rebounded Sunday afternoon to make quick work of the Squirrels in a 12-2, seven-inning victory. Namur got a great start from Greg Van Sickler, who threw all seven, giving up two runs on four hits, walked two, and struck out eleven. The bats also came alive for the Angels, as they recorded eleven hits on the day, five of them for extra bases.
Being the home team for the series, Van Sickler faced adversity in the top of the first after Steven Delannoy leadoff with an infield single. A walk to designated hitter Dennis Ribbens put runners at first and second and no outs. Shortstop Jose Coste then attempted to slash, but grounded straight to Jake Hummel at third base and started the 5-3 double play. After another walk, Van Sickler got a lazy fly ball to second base to end the inning.
Namur jumped ahead three runs in the bottom of the first after Van Sickler led off the frame with a double to right field. Catcher Luke Auger followed with a single of his own to left. The heavy blow came off the bat of Hummel, who knocked his third home run of the year over the left field fence for a three run shot.
A five run second was to follow as first baseman Ludovic Geuquet reached on an infield error. Center fielder Adrien Geuquet laid down a sacrifice that the Squirrels catcher fielded and fired to first, but the throw was high and both runners were safe. With the Geuquet pair aboard, Jerome Sana squared around to bunt and the ball was fielded by Squirrels starter Luis Larrinaga. However, again the throw was high and all runners were safe. While Van Sickler was at the plate, a passed ball allowed the first Geuquet to score. With runners at second and third, Van Sickler singled to right field to plate Geuquet and Sana. Auger stepped to the plate with Van Sickler at second, after stealing the base, and flew out to deep left field. Hummel took a 3-2 fastball in the shoulder for a free walk to first. With runners at first and second, Vincent King hit a shot to left center that one hopped the wall, scoring Van Sickler and moving Hummel to third. Williams Rosario beat out an infield single to plate Hummel for the final run of the inning.
The Squirrels got on the board in the top of the third after Delannoy hit a one out double to left center and advanced to third on a passed ball. After Ribbens struck out, Coste hit a single up the middle for their first run.
Two more runs came in the bottom of the fourth for the Angels when Auger singled to left. He advanced to third on Hummel’s laser line drive double off the left field fence. King reached on an infield single, scoring Auger and advancing Hummel to third. With runners at the corners and one out, Rosario hit a groundball to short to start the 6-4-3 double play, but a hard slide by King broke up the throw and Rosario was safe, as Hummel crossed home on the play. The final two runs for the Angels came an inning later when Adrien Geuquet reached on an infield error and advanced to second on a passed ball. Sana was unable to move the runners with a strikeout and the lineup turned over to Van Sickler. He hit a double just inside the third base line to score Geuquet. Hummel then hit a groundball that skipped off the Squirrels third baseman and trickled to the shortstop. Hummel was safe and Van Sickler was held at third. Two pitches later, Van Sickler crossed home on a passed ball.
The other Squirrels run came in the fifth after two infield errors put runners at first and second. A single loaded the bases. Ribbens then hit a line drive to right for a sacrifice fly, plating the second Squirrels run. The threat was ended after Van Sickler induced a fly out to third and a groundout to first to end the inning.
Leading 12-2 in the top of the seventh inning, the Angels needed three outs to secure the mercy rule victory. After Van Sickler struck out the first two batters, Delannoy hit a shot to deep right center that skipped all the way to the fence for a two out triple. With the potential for the game to go another inning, Van Sickler struck out designated hitter Dennis Ribbens to end the game.
King and Hummel were both 2-3 on the day with Hummel driving in three runs. Van Sickler also drove in three runs, while sporting three hits. With the win, the Angels improve to 14-5 on the season. Namur has the weekend off from play as they prepare for their European Cup Tournament beginning Monday, June 11th.