By: Thomas Keating, Charlatan
CANTON, NY (Apr.30.2017) –
Carleton’s men’s baseball team played a back-to-back doubleheader in the first day of their three-day road trip in the United States. The two games were hosted by the SUNY-Canton Kangaroos. The Ravens have rarely played Spring, as their regular season ends late October. While warm-up games with local competition were scheduled before the trip, they were rained out and the Ravens had to do with Field-house reps and most Ravens players have not thrown or swung a bat since their season ended in the Fall.
The weather was cold, the wind was harsh, and the odd drizzle of rain made it a perfect environment for terrible baseball weather.
“It’s tough to find your arm back in this type of weather, the rain makes the ball a little more slippery and the mound has more give therefore our cleats can’t dig in. The conditions aren’t the best to way to start the baseball season but this is usually the case for Canadian baseball,” said Ravens starting pitcher Michael Bannon, who was later recognized with a “Pitcher of the Year” honours for the Ravens.
GAME 1: 2-1 SUNY-Canton
The early stages of the game featured a great pitching matchup: Carleton’s Bannon against SUNY-Canton’s Phil Cohen, both of whom had seven strikeouts apiece over the course in the first five innings. Both pitchers locked down on the strike zone early and held the opposing teams at bay with consecutive ‘three up three down’ innings.
The first sign of offensive prowess came from SUNY-Canton in the bottom of the fourth inning when the Roos managed to move a runner to third after a stolen base and a sacrifice fly. A hit to left field secured a run for SUNY-Canton in the first of the game. The pressure was on Bannon to not allow anymore runs in the inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Bannon put an end to the tenuous situation by picking off the runner at first to end the inning.
But Carleton’s bats were as cold as the wind they were playing in, as they mustered only two hits against Cohen who pitched a complete game. Cohen recorded 15 strikeouts over six innings.
The Carleton offense found some traction in the top of the sixth inning, when Kevin Park reached second due to a walk and a stolen base. Brady Turner hit a single to bring the tying run in, as his fast approach to first led to an error which gave enough time for Kevin Park to score Carleton’s first run.
“It’s all about the timing,” said Jordan Harcourt, a Carleton pitcher. “Our timing is a little off at the start of the season, that comes with any season and team, not just with us. Timing is key.”
The game was tied heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, as relief pitcher Austin Bergeron came own in relief. The Kangaroos were able to break the tie in the bottom of the inning with a RBI double, which brought in their runner from second base.
The Ravens offense wasn’t able to rally in the seventh, as all three batters were struck out to end the game in close 2-1 loss for the Ravens.
GAME 2: 5-3 Carleton U
The Ravens bats found their beat in game two of the double-header: a 5-3 victory with nine hits, as pitching from Bergeron and Lacelle held down SUNY- Canton’s offence.
The Ravens jumped on the opposing pitcher early who seemed to be throwing from three different arm slots.
The Ravens hit the ball more effectively in the second game of their U.S. road trip, as Kevin Park had two hits to help Carleton find runs in the early stages of the game.
“After the first game, we didn’t get many hits, for the second game the strategy was to not be as picky and swing a little bit more. We had to stop waiting for the perfect pitch and try to make contact,” said Ravens Head Coach Andre Robidoux “We were able to get all the kinks out from the first game, I feel like it all came together in the second game.”
Curtis Lacelle came in after the second inning and recorded five strikeouts as he kept the Kangaroos to one run. He pitched himself out of a jam late in the game and allowed Carleton to hold on to their lead through the end of the game.
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