Despite a pair of outstanding pitching performances from Nicolas Migeot and Caleb Calarco, the Angels fell at the hands of the league-leading Hoboken Pioneers twice this week by the score of 3-0. The Pioneers themselves also received excellent complete game performances from Kenny Van Den Branden and Terence Antonacci to shut out the Angels offense on the week.
In game one on Tuesday night at Hoboken the game was scoreless into the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth a single by the Pioneers number nine hitter opened the inning, and after the leadoff man fouled off a two-strike bunt attempt, the following hitter punched a weak single to left, and he was followed by a clean single to center to plate the eventual winning run. The four and five hitters were retired on fly outs to strand runners at first and third. In the seventh the top of the order came through with a stolen base following a single to move into scoring position before coming around on a double, and again Migeot induced two fly outs from the middle of the order to strand another runner in scoring position. In the eighth the Pioneers capped the scoring by slipping another run across.
The Angels offense only managed to notch four hits on the evening and only drew two walks, never getting a runner to third base. Morgan Brown had two hits and a walk, while Adrien Stockart and Adrien Geuquet each also had a hit.
In game two on Thursday night at Namur the scoreless pitcher’s duel lasted even longer as the sun headed toward the horizon. It was scoreless through seven innings before Hoboken pushed two across. Caleb Calarco got the ball for the Angels and again put forth a quality start. Between the first and third innings he struck out five Pioneers in a row en route to an 11-strikeout game. Unfortunately, Calarco was also charged with nine walks, some on agonizingly close pitches as he worked around the zone all evening.
In the fourth Calarco worked around a pair of walks by picking off one runner and then inducing a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. In the sixth two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out, but another punch out and a soft liner to short ended the frame. A leadoff walk in the seventh was erased by a 1-6-3 double play. In the eighth however there was no escape. A pair of walks sandwiched around a hit loaded the bases with two out. On a close 3-2 pitch a walk forced the eventual winning run home and a soft-single to right plated another. Hufnagel came out of the pen to get a soft roller to short to end the inning. In the ninth however two walks and a single led to Hoboken’s third run.
Angels pitching surrendered only six hits, but eleven walks aided the Pioneers’ cause. Offensively the Angels again managed little, only once getting a runner to third base. They had five hits and reached base once via walk and once via a hit batsmen. Ronny Heymans, Calarco, Brown, Stockart, and Florian Lekeu collected hits while Brown and Calarco received free passes courtesy of a walk and HBP, respectively.
{mrb-result:2008-07-22|2008-07-27|BE}
{mrb-standing:belgium-2nd-2008}