Baseball: Defensive Miscues Sting Concordia Against Redmen

Early Mistakes Downs Stingers to 1-3 Record

SportsHarrison-Milo Rahajason — Published September 18, 2016

With a veteran starter in Sam Belisle-Springer slated to take the mound and the memory of their incredible comeback win just days before, optimism was high for the Stingers heading into their first test against McGill.

Things, however, would not go quite according to plan for the Stingers.

Springer, looking to rebound from a tough first outing against the Carleton Ravens, did not fare much better his second time around.

A couple of weak hits and some bad defensive errors in the first inning yielded just two runs. The Stingers were even able to scratch out a run in the bottom of the first inning when designated hitter Matthew Adams-Whittaker scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit in half.

The top of the second is when the game took a sharp turn for the Stingers.

“That [top of the] second inning was brutal,” said head coach Howie Schwartz. “We were just bouncing it around and we got a couple bad breaks with balls hit off the end of the bat.”

Five walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a passed ball brought in four runs for the Redmen, stretching their lead to 6-1. Despite not actually giving up many hits and recording all seven of his outs via the strikeout, Springer had issued too many walks and the defense behind him did not do everything they could to help him sort through them.

“Seven walks,” Springer responded when asked what went wrong in his start.

On the other side of the ball, the Stingers were unable to string many hits together and the lack of offence, particularly from big hitters, has coach Schwartz’s attention.

“I’m a bit concerned [about hitters]. They’re driving the ball, but they’re just not going where they’re supposed to go yet,” said Schwartz. “I’m worried about that getting to their head and turning into some long slumps.”

“[The Stingers] have to get ready for a long season of learning to get ready for the playoffs.”

The Stingers will have two days off before they play a Sunday afternoon double header against the Carleton Ravens at Trudeau park on Sept 18. Concordia will be looking to sweep the series and rebound from the bad loss to their rivals and get back in the win column.