by Henry Perkins, www.namur-angels.be
Angels Top Greys in Game one
On Saturday the Namur Angels traveled to Merksem to take on the Royal Greys in game one of the weekend set. The Angels looked to rebound after having their season long win streak snapped in their previous contest.
The Angels’ offense wasted very little time in getting on the board and drew first blood in the top of the first inning. With one out first baseman Thomas Vandenabeele drew a walk and promptly advanced to third on a Henry Perkins double to right center. The next batter, third baseman Jerome Sana, walked, which loaded the bases with one out. Left fielder Juny Gressman stepped to the plate and dropped a soft liner between the Greys’ pitcher and first baseman, and after several Merksem players scrambled to make the play every Angel had advanced safely, giving Namur a 1-0 lead.
The Greys’ bats responded quickly in the bottom of the first when right fielder David Herssens hit a two out double off of Angels’ starter Zachary Potter. The next batter was hit by a pitch which brought up Gert Rosiers who delivered with a single to center field that plated Herssens, and after one full inning of play the score was locked at one.
The Angels regained the lead in the top of the third, scoring one which would ultimately be the deciding tally of the afternoon. Perkins singled up the middle with one out to get things started and then stole second. With two outs and Perkins still on second it was Juny Gressman who came through again for Namur. The left fielder deposited a “dying quail” into shallow right and with the runner moving on contact the Angels had taken a 2-1 lead.
In the top of fifth Namur added an insurance run on another Gressman RBI single that brought in shortstop Henry Perkins.
Angels’ ace Zachary Potter was right on track, delivering another solid outing. The starter pitched the full nine innings on the way to the win. He allowed nine hits, recorded nine strikeouts and only issued two walks.
For the Greys starter Andy Ruelle took the loss after working four innings, allowing two runs. Dennis Van Hoof, who finished the game, pitching five innings, allowing just one run, relieved him.
The Angels had seven hits on the afternoon between only three batters. Leading the way was Juny Gressman with three singles and three RBIs. Henry Perkins and Adrien Geuquet each had two hits of their own, while Perkins also had two runs scored and three stolen bases.
David Herrsens led the offensive front for the Greys with two doubles, a run scored, and a stolen base.
Greys squeeze by Angels in second game
Pitching was the name of the game in the second meeting of the weekend between the Merksem Royal Greys and Namur Angels. For the second Sunday in a row the Angels took a tie into the ninth inning and had the game decided in the final frame.
Merksem got the scoring started in the top of the second inning, pushing across one that turned out to be their lone tally until the ninth inning. After a leadoff strikeout, third baseman Sven Timmermans laced a single into centerfield. The next batter then hit a sharp groundball that was mishandled by Namur’s second baseman allowing Timmermans to move to third. With one out right fielder Sieger Deckers lifted a shallow fly into right that was corralled by a diving Nicolas Migeot. By the time the Angels’ right fielder gathered himself Timmermans had tagged at third and scored the first run of the ballgame, giving the Greys a 1-0 lead.
The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the seventh as Namur starter Harold Gerard and Greys’ hurler Adam Crabb kept their opponents’ bats at bay. The Angels’ DH Zachary Potter led the way for the comeback when he hit a one out double that dropped just inside of the right field line. The next batter, Nicolas Migeot, came up big as well when he blooped a single into right that allowed Potter to come around from second to score, locking the game at one all. Unfortunately for the Angels this was the only run they could muster on the afternoon despite a few other promising scoring chances.
In the top of the ninth, with Gerard out of the game, Sven Timmermans led the inning off with a hard hit double into the right-center gap. He was quickly moved to third on a Jason Jie Sam Foek sac bunt, which gave Merksem the potential winning run just 90 feet away. Sieger Deckers then stepped into the box and after taking the first pitch executed a perfect suicide squeeze, which gave the Greys a 2-1 advantage. Namur’s attempts at a comeback fell short after they stranded a runner at second in the bottom of the ninth.
Adam Crabb got the win for Merksem in a complete game effort. Crabb fanned eight Angels and allowed just one run. Nicolas Migeot took the loss in one inning of relief after Harold Gerard struck out six in eight innings of work for the Angels.
Sven Timmermans was the top performer for the Merksem offense with two hits and two runs scored. For the Angels Zachary Potter had two hits and also scored their only run
{mrb-result:2009-06-13|2009-06-14|BE}
{mrb-standing:belgium-2009}