Titans Plate Forty-Three Runs in Six Summer Slugfests

The 16U and 18U Titans hitters opened the mid-August segment of their Fergie Jenkins Showcase League schedule with an impressive offensive display over the weekend.  Both teams combined to score 43 runs in six games versus the Bulletproof Prospects, Ontario Rockies, and Ontario Giants.  Director of Player Operations and 18U Head Coach Lawrence Vera was “pleased with the offensive production, but concerned about defensive lapses that were uncharacteristic of both teams during the first three weekends of the season.  Too many errors cost both teams victories on Saturday and Sunday as we gave up leads we are accustomed to holding.  This week’s practices will be focusing on tightening our defense.”

The 16U Titans split their doubleheader with the Ontario Giants on Saturday which featured an 11-3 blowout win coupled with a tough 8-6 loss.  

In their 11-3 victory, the 16U Titans demonstrated their power and speed. They pounded out nine hits and stole 16 bases.  Cameron Byers pitched three innings to record the win.  Byers struck out four, yielded three runs on only two hits. Carson Barnett threw effectively in his relief appearance. The Titans played flawless defence which has been their trademark this summer. Reese Irvin was the most sure-handed of all the Titans defenders. He converted all six chances into outs. Nolan Thomson and Jaxen Lehr led the offence with two hits each; Wyatt Slocum stole 3 bases. In their heartbreaking loss to the Giants, the 16U Titans jumped out to a 4-0 lead but could not hold off their opponents as the Giants staged a late rally to steal the W.   Dylan Reeves and Thomson led the Titans with 3 RBI and 1 RBI, respectively.  Thomson was the pitcher of record in the loss, despite a performance that featured eight strikeouts.

The 18U Titans had mixed results over the weekend. They held on for a 9-7 win over the Bulletproof Prospects, but lost 8-1 in their second game on Saturday to the Ontario Rockies.  In their win over the Prospects, the Titans jumped out to a 7-run lead and held off a 5-run Prospect rally. Ethan Kennedy-Musterman, Nolan Plunkett, and Brandon Killeen sparked the Titans four-run outburst in the fifth inning with an RBI each. Ryan Fisher struck out four and walked one to earn the victory.  He surrendered six runs on eight hits, but he received bullpen relief from Kennedy-Musterman and Massimo Amantea to maintain the margin of victory.  Amantea recorded the last out to earn the save. True to form this summer, the 18U Titans pounded out ten hits.  Hayden Norman went 3 for 4.  Kennedy-Musterman and Plunkett added two hits each. The Titans were sure-handed in the field with Mathew Brandt providing flawless defence as he turned six chances into outs to support his pitching staff. 

Unfortunately, the sure-handedness displayed versus the Prospects did not rematerialize over the rest of the weekend, much to Coach Vera’s chagrin.  In the Titans’ 8-1 loss to the Rockies on Saturday, the 18U Titans outhit their opponents 8-6, but could not bounce back from the 4-spot that the Giants put up in the sixth inning. Ethan Moulds pitched three innings for the Titans, yielding four runs and only one hit.  Despite being tagged with the loss, Moulds struck out six Rockies. Giuseppe Sisca and  Alex Gombocz continued their hot hitting by collecting two hits each in the loss.   

Sunday’s doubleheader featured 16 runs scored by the potent Titans, but they “defended poorly” according to Coach Vera in their pair of losses---13-5 and 14-11--- to the Rockies.  Cooper Tomkinson led the Titans offence with two hits in their 13-5 loss, including a home run in the fifth inning.  Hayden Norman was saddled with the loss as he allowed eight runs on five hits over 2 1/3 innings. Lee Majerovits and Massimo Amantea threw four and 2/3 innings of relief.  Ethan Kennedy-Munsterman added an RBI for the Titans. In their 14-11 defeat, the Titans 18U lost a late lead at the top of the sixth to fall to the Rockies. The Titans pounded out nine more hits, but the Rockies had twelve of their own to sweep the doubleheader. The Titans continued to score in bunches as they have done most of the summer as they tallied five runs in the third inning. Sisca, Gombocz, Kennedy-Munstermman, and Majerovits drove in runs to spark the offence. Titans starter Kobe Geofroy scattered eight hits, struck out six, and walked only one over five and 2/3 innings, but surrendered eleven runs in the loss. CJ Wendelgass threw 1 1/3 innings of relief for the Titans. Sisca went 3 for 3 as he collected three of the Titans’ nine hits. Norman added two hits in the loss to the Rockies.