After hanging close at the beginning, the RiCo Highlanders were shown who’s the boss in Austrian baseball, as the Attnang-Puchheim Athletics retired the guests in 7 innings. In Game 2, the A’s import pitcher made his debut in Austria’s top league, and again the guests fought hard for a few innings, until a big 5th inning put the game away for the hosts.
The Gramastättner Highlanders debut in the ABL didn’t go as they had hoped. They were able to tally 3 runs against Thomas Schrittwieser who last week had a strong appearance, but were unable to keep pace with the Athletics offense. In the 4th, Walter Strasser took over for Schrittwieser on the mound, and put forward a stellar performance (9 K’s in 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER) that grounded the Highlanders hopes for an upset. The A’s hitters, lead by David Burns (3-4, 2 HR), crushed the Highlanders pitching at will, leading to a mercy rule win after 7 innings. The final score read 15-4.
Josh Castanza started Game 2 for the hosts, his first time on the mound for the A’s. Again the guests were able to jump out to an early lead, putting up 2 runs in the 2nd inning and another in the 3rd to take a 3-0 lead. Joshua Steward, starting for the Highlanders, was able to keep the A’s batters on a tight leash early on, but he started getting wild as the game went on. In the 5th, the A’s turned their fortunes around thanks to patience at the plate leading to some walks by Steward. Combined with a few nice hits, they took the lead and didn’t let up until the mercy rule again cut short the game.
Results:
RiCo Highlanders @ Shellac Athletics
Game 1: 3-14 – WP: W. Strasser; LP: D. Gerner;
2 HR: David Burns
Game 2: 4-14 – WP: C. Castanza; LP: J. Steward