Baseball: Stingers Sweep!

Stingers Sweep Doubleheaders Against Carabins and Gee-Gees, Await McGill in Final Regular Season Game

SportsMatthew Shanahan — Published October 5, 2015

“They got things straightened out…and they came up big when they were down and hurting. So I think we’re ready,” Stingers manager Howie Schwartz said.

It proved to be effective, as the Stingers swept a doubleheader against the Université de Montréal Carabins this past Sunday afternoon at Ahuntsic Park, winning both games 5-3. It capped off a perfect weekend for the Stingers as they also defeated the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in a doubleheader on Saturday.

The Stingers have one final game to play; a Monday afternoon game against the McGill Redmen, and the team is confident they will continue their winning streak.

“We are going to [destroy] McGill [Monday] night,” pitcher Jonathan Raftus said.

“We are going to [destroy] McGill [Monday] night,” pitcher Jonathan Raftus said.

In game one, the Stingers got on the scoreboard first, leading 2-0 after three innings of play that lasted just over a half hour. The Stingers doubled their lead in the top of the fourth inning as Marco Menard scored on an error and Matthew Whittaker hit a ground ball to first base, allowing catcher Dario Vincelli to score.

The Carabins, however, would come crawling back to make it a one-run ball game. An error brought in a run in the bottom half of the inning, culminating with a 2-out RBI single to cut the lead in half. The Carabins would get another run the following inning before the Stingers would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh, thanks to Stefan “Yankee Doodle” Brady’s sacrifice fly.

What manager Howie Schwartz described as a “grinding” victory in game one turned out to be nearly the exact same story in the second game of this doubleheader. The Stingers again scored first as centre fielder Sam Belisle-Springer drove in the first run of the game after hitting a sacrifice fly.

Brady’s RBI single in the fifth inning gave the Stingers a much-needed insurance run, but UdeM would strike back in the bottom half with a two-run double, tying the game at 2-2.

In the top of the seventh inning, after loading the bases, Brady hit a sacrifice fly ball that scored a run for the Stingers. Soon after, Menard hit a two-run single, giving his team a 5-2 lead. The Carabins would add one in the bottom half of the seventh but it wasn’t enough, and the team lost again 5-3.

“These guys are exhausted after playing 6 games in 4 days,” said Schwartz. “For them to step up like that just shows a lot of character and class and I’m very proud of the way they pitched.”
After Monday night’s game against McGill, the Stingers will have to wait until Saturday to begin the playoffs, where they will host a doubleheader in the first two of a best-of-three series against a yet to be announced opponent.