Titans Baseball Clubs Sweep Doubleheaders from Ontario Rockies and Kingston Colts
The Titans made it a clean sweep on Saturday as the 18U squad won 9-2 and 5-4 over the Ontario Rockies at the Tottenham Community Centre. Meanwhile, the 16U Titans travelled to down the 401 to Kingston to play the Colts and notched 3-1 and 15-5 victories.
In the 18U’s 9-2 win over the Rockies, a Titans five-run uprising in the second inning was paced by Alex Kok’s home run, Giuseppe Sisca’s sac fly, and RBI’s from Matthew Brandt, C.J. Wendelgass, and Cooper Tomkinson. Winning pitcher Ethan Moulds was the beneficiary of the Titans offensive support. He threw four strong innings, allowing four hits and two runs, and struck out eight Rockies. Ryan Fisher threw three innings of scoreless relief to earn the save. Head Coach Lawrence Vera was impressed by Moulds’s performance: “Ethan Moulds was on fire again on back-to-back weekends in getting the win versus the Rockies. Striking out eight through four innings helped us in the 9-2 opening win.” Coach Vera also complimented his hitters, especially “Cooper Tomkinson who added his third home run of the season and is off to a great start in his junior year with the Titans.”
The Titans were impressive in the field behind Moulds and Fisher as they played errorless ball in Game 1 versus the Rockies.
In their 5-4 win over the Rockies, the Titans jumped out to a four-run lead in the fifth and hung on for the victory. Hayden Norman was the winning pitcher as he scattered eight hits over 6 innings—allowing 3 runs and striking out three. Ryan Fisher and Liam Seanor pitched the nervous seventh with Seanor getting the last out of the game to earn the save. The Titans balanced offensive attack was paced by Tomkinson, Brandt, Norman, Alex Gombacz, and Seanor with one hit each.
In Kingston, the 16U Titans won two different ways on Saturday: via a pitching duel and an inspired comeback win versus the Colts.
In their 3-1 win, Justin Shin provided a quality start for the Titans. Shin allowed 5 hits over 5 innings and limited Kingston to one run to earn the victory; he struck out 4 Colts. Jackson Burek earned the save in relief. R Irvin went 2 for 2 to pace the 16U Titans attack. Coach John Rose was impressed with his starter: Shin was composed and gave a solid outing on the mound in Game 1”. Head Coach Johnny Bethune also offered accolades for his starter, but was even more excited by the team’s power in Game 2: “Shin goes 5, allowing only 1 run and striking out 4 in the Game 1 pitching duel. Then Noah Casult powers the 16U offence with two home runs including a Grand Slam and Carson Barnett adds a 3-run shot. Also impressive was Fenn going 6 for 9 in Kingston with a double, 2 RBI’s, and 4 runs scored.”
Cameron Byers was the hitting hero in the Titans 15-5 win as he delivered four RBI’s in a display of excellent situational hitting. Byers drove in runs with a bunt single, double, and fielder’s choice. The Colts jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but that was all the Titans would allow as they clawed back for the win. Coach Jesse Barker was impressed with Byers’s mental toughness: “After battling the strike zone on the mound in the first inning, Cam took the offence into his own hands to make back the runs he had surrendered with a beautiful bunt single and an RBI double to spark our comeback.”
Titans pitching coordinator Andrew White offered an assessment of the Titans pitching performances over the weekend: “The pitchers did well. We still need to focus on Strike 1 and get our off-season pitches in the zone. With more playing time and added comfort on the mound, we will clean up some of the adjustments that most teams don’t make.”
To round out the weekend, the 18U Titans took out their brooms again on Sunday as they swept the 16U Titans 11-9 and 8-7 in a pair of exhibition games at the Tottenham Community Centre.