16U Titans Run Roughshod over the Renegades; 18U Titans Split a Pair and Win a Walk Off

The Titans Baseball Clubs seem to thrive in summer baseball conditions as they took three of four games on the August 15-16 weekend.  The 16U Titans swept the Renegades 13-1 and 19-0 while the 18U Titans split a pair—defeating Bulletproof 4-2 but dropping a 7-1 decision to the Ontario Rockies.

The 16U Titans doubleheader sweep featured quick offensive starts and effective pitching.  Head Coach John Bethune was pleased by the team’s overall performance:  “We played with high energy, solid D, and we got two great starting pitching performances by Justin Shin and Faisal Al-Ajeel.  We hit the ball well this weekend, including 10 early inning runs combined over the two games.” In their 13-1 win on Saturday, the Titans scored nine runs in a big second inning. Reese Irvin, Justin Fenn, Nolan Thomson, Wyatt Slocum, Noah Casult, and Ryan Smith delivered RBI’s to set a tone for the game. Justin Shin delivered another strong outing on the bump, limiting the Renegades to one hit and one run over five innings of work.   Thomson added had a homer in the fifth inning, the longest of the 12 hits that the Titans tallied. Slocum, Fenn, Irvin, Dylan Reeves, and Jake Rozario delivered two hits each to pace the Titans’ attack.

In their 19-0 win, the Titans racked up 16 hits to support their starting pitcher’s strong performance.  Faisal Al-Ajeel threw a complete game shutout, striking out three, walking one, and surrendering just one hit to the Renegade. Jackson Burek and Thomson had big games at the plate as each collected three hits to lead the Titans’ offence. Thomson also led the Titans with three stolen bases. The quick start, aggression on the basepaths, and big bats were “significant factors” according to Coach Bethune: “It’s always great to get ahead right off the hop.”  

In the Titans-Ontario Rockies game, the 18U squad struggled to put runs on the board and dropped a 7-1 decision. The Rockies took the lead on a single in the second inning and didn’t look back. Titans starter Ethan Moulds allowed nine hits and seven runs over four and two-thirds innings, striking out four.  Hunter Campese threw one and one-third innings out of the bullpen. Hayden Norman, Alex Kok, CJ Wendelgass, and Ethan Kenndy-Munsterman each collected one hit versus the Rockies. 

However, the 18U Titans bounced back with a big sixth inning rally to secure a 4-2 victory over Bulletproof Prospects. The game was tied at two at the bottom of the sixth when Ethan Kennedy-Munsterman drew an RBI walk to secure the game-winning hit. Cooper Tomkinson, Hunter Campese, and Alex Kok each managed one hit to lead the 18U Titans. Ryan Fisher was the winning pitcher. He allowed three hits and two runs over seven innings, striking out four.

In an all-Titans exhibition game to close out the weekend, Alex Kok’s grand slam ended the contest in the most dramatic way possible as the Titans 18U edged Titans 16U 8-5.  The 18U Titans trailed 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Kok homered on a 1-1 count, driving in four runs including the game-winning RBI. The 16U Titans got off to great start in the exhibition game by scoring three runs in the first inning. Wyatt Slocum and Dylan Reeves drove in runs in the opening frame. CJ Wendelgass earned the win in relief. He surrendered zero runs on one hit over two-thirds of an inning.  18U starter Hayden Norman went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and striking out seven.   Tomkinson led the 18U’s with three hits in four at bats. Giuseppe Sisca  and Kok added two hits each.  The 16U’s saw the ball well versus the 18U’s, racking up nine hits in the game.  Reeves, Fenn, Burek, and Thomson all managed multiple hits for Titans Baseball Club 16U to close off productive weekends at the dish.