by Namur Angels, www.namur-angels.be
Angels Fall to Pioneers
The Namur Angels fell to the visiting Hoboken Pioneers 8-6 in a Saturday afternoon contest. Despite having a three run lead heading into the sixth inning, the Angels could not hold on, as the Pioneers came on late to take game one of the weekend series.
Namur starter Cedric Desmedt was roughed up for three runs in the top of the second inning when Pioneers shortstop Dennis De Quint singled to right field. A walk to the next batter put runners at first and second. Catcher Styn Janssens laid down a sacrifice bunt that was fielded by Desmedt, but the throw to first base sailed wide and De Quint came around to score from second base. A walk to designated hitter Roy Doliveira loaded the bases. First baseman Nasser Tavil hit a groundball to shortstop that started a 6-4-3 double play, but in turn scored the runner from third. With two outs and a runner at third base, Desmedt walked Ben Van Nuffel. With runners at first and third and two outs, Nuffel took off for second base. The throw was cut off by the second baseman, as Janssens at third headed home on the throw. However, the relay back to the plate was not in time and the third run of the inning scored.
The Angels would answer an inning later by putting up a six run third inning. Catcher Tom Gerard drew a leadoff walk. Jon Eisen and Jerome Sana both followed with singles of their own. With the bases loaded, Greg Van Sickler hit a single up the middle to plate Gerard for the first run of the inning. Jake Hummel then singled to right to bring home another run for the home team. With the bases still loaded, Andreas Lastinger hit a groundball to third baseman Ben Van Nuffel, who came up firing to home plate. However, the throw was wide and skipped off the catcher’s glove, allowing Sana to score from third and Van Sickler hustled home for the Angels fourth run. After a ground out, Nicolas Migeot singled to right field to bring home Hummel and Lastinger to complete the six run inning.
Cedric Desmedt was relieved after five complete innings of work. He gave up the three runs on two hits, walked five, and struck out two. His successor, Kevin Desmedt, came on to throw the final four innings of the game. Despite a three run lead, Desmedt was touched up for five runs through those four innings of work. He surrendered six hits, walked three, and struck out one.
The Angels could not find an answer to Pioneers starter Kenny Van Den Branden late in the game, who went the distance, giving up six runs on nine hits, walking three, and striking out five.
For the Angels, Eisen was 4-5 on day, while Migeot added two RBIs with his single in the third. Namur will face the Pioneers in the final regular season game of the year on Sunday afternoon.
Walk-off Win Lifts Angels over Pioneers
The Angels got back in the win column with a stunning 2-1 walk-off victory against the Hoboken Pioneers Sunday afternoon. It took 10 innings, but the Angels were able to prevail thanks to a crucial infield error committed by the Pioneers defense. To say the game was a pitcher’s duel is an understatement. Both pitchers went the distance, as the game featured fantastic defensive plays and a great pitching matchup. Pioneers starter TJ Antonacci took the loss after nine plus innings of work, giving up two runs on seven hits, walked five, and struck out two. As both pitchers were dominant, Angels starter Greg Van Sickler picked up the win as he threw all 10 innings, giving up just one run on seven hits. He walked one and struck out 13 on his way to the victory.
Namur scored first in the bottom of the third inning as first baseman Jake Hummel singled to center. Catcher Andreas Lastinger followed with a single to right field. With runners at first and second and no outs, Theodore De Bellefroid laid down a bunt that was fielded by Antonacci on the mound and fired to third base just in time to retire Hummel racing to the bag. However, Cedric Nauts singled to right the next at bat to load the bases. With one out and the bases full, left fielder Tom Gerard hit a groundball to shortstop. The out was made at second, but Gerard hustled down the line to beat the throw across the diamond to avoid the inning ending double play. Lastinger was able to score on the play.
The Pioneers answered the next inning when Thomas De Wolf reached on an infield error. Shortstop Dennis De Quint singled to the left field corner, advancing De Wolf to third. However, the throw from left was wide to the cut off man, allowing De Quint to take second base uncontested. The next batter, Tornike Nikolashuili singled to left field, scoring De Wolf from third. Van Sickler was able to induce a groundout to first, a strikeout, and another infield groundout to end the threat.
Both clubs had numerous chances to push runs across the board, but spectacular defense combined with gutsy pitching prevented any further runs from scoring. The Angels had bases loaded in the first and second innings, but were unable to capitalize. In the bottom of the fifth, Andreas Lastinger hit a one out laser to straight away center field that rolled to the wall for a triple. It looked as though the Angels would scratch a run across as De Bellefroid lifted a high fly ball to center field. However, the throw to the plate was perfect, and Lastinger was retired to end the inning. The Angels, however, would play spectacular defense at home plate, as well. In the top of the eighth inning, center fielder Nick Vanthillo singled to left field. Alberto Valerio hit a groundball to third base that looked to start a 5-4-3 double play, but the throw to first was wide, allowing Valerio to trot to second base. He then stole second two pitches later to put a man at third base and one out. With De Quint up to bat, a hard slider in the dirt skipped past Lastinger and bounced off the backstop. Valerio took off for home plate, but Lastinger made a great play off the wall as Van Sickler was covering home, and Valerio was tagged out in front of the plate to end the inning.
The late game heroics came in the bottom of the tenth when Van Sickler leadoff with a single to right field. Hummel then bunted him over. An intentional walk to Lastinger put runners at first and second and one out. De Bellefroid stepped to the plate and hit a sharp groundball up the middle that skipped under the glove of the Pioneers shortstop, allowing Van Sickler to sprint home for the winning run.
With the regular season now complete, the Angels will face an undecided postseason opponent next weekend.