Another solid weekend of baseball is in the books for both the Sudbury 18U Voyageurs and the Sudbury 14U Voyageurs as the teams get closer to July and a chance to showcase their talents south of the border.
The weekend of June 14th and 15th not only saw both local squads earn splits in their respective four game sets, but also featured no less than six of those eight encounters decided by two runs of less.
At home against the Midwestern Ontario Bearcats, the 18U Voyageurs went 1-1 on both Saturday and Sunday, opening with a 2-1 win before dropping an 8-5 decision on day one and reversing the pattern on Sunday, trimmed 9-8 but racking up a 7-5 victory to close things off.
In a pitchers' duel to kick things off, the Sudbury tandem of Callum Baron (one run over five innings pitched) and Brady Soucy (two inning save) limited the Bearcats to just a pair of hits and three walks while striking out 12 in the 2-1 win.
Trailing 1-0 heading to the bottom of the sixth, the Voyageurs tied things up on a home run from Gabriel Larocque and plated Ryan Spencer with the game-winning run thanks to a sacrifice fly from Félix Aubin.
The second game was equally as close for the most part, the Bearcats up 3-2 heading to the final inning when the teams combined for eight runs, five from the Midwestern crew.
Ryan Spencer was tagged for three runs over six innings of work on the mound for the locals while leadoff hitter Brody Mabbott drove in a pair, with no Sudbury batsman collecting more than a single hit.
A slow start on Sunday in game three proved costly for the 18U Voyageurs, down 9-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth but rallying to score eight to make things interesting.
Ethan Thompson (2 hits; three RBIs; two runs; HR) boasted the best offensive stat line for Sudbury while Hudson Fletcher tossed two and two-third innings of hitless/scoreless ball, allowing his team to make a game of it.
The series finale featured 20 combined hits by the teams, with Ryan Spencer (3/3 - 2 runs) leading the way for the northern crew as seven different teammates chipped in with one hit apiece.
Despite the hit parade on both sides, Sudbury pitchers Will Burns and Braiden Paul managed to strand 10 Bearcats on base, limiting the damage on the scoreboard to just five runs in the 7-5 win.
Taking to the road, the 14U Voyageurs overcame a tough 8-3 loss in their series opener, going toe to toe with the London Badgers in the next three matchups, recording victories by scores of 6-5 and 6-4 before losing a 9-8 heartbreaker.
The bus legs showed early as Sudbury trailed 5-0 after four in game one, rallying for three and turning up the heat a bit on the Badgers. A pair of big innings was all in took in game two as the Voyageurs scored four in the fifth and two more in the seventh for the win.
A very balanced attack included seven hits spread out between six players (Adrien Cecchetto slapped out a pair of singles) while Merrik Sokoloski was near flawless on the mound, recording the final four outs for the win.
A pair of hits from both Franky Finamore and Colby Roque, two runs scored by Nick Paquette and a complete game seven-inning performance from Adrien Cecchetto was enough to give Sudbury a 6-4 win in game three.
A series win was in sight in the finale as the Voyageurs took an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the sixth (and final) inning as the Badgers rallied for five runs and the split.
Leadoff hitter Cameron Roy reached base three times on a hit and two walks, coming around to score three times while Nick Paquette drove in a pair of runs. Starting pitcher Jett Beroll was solid, giving up three hits over four innings and matching a pair of walks with an equal number of strikeouts.
