The Mississauga SW Twins proved to the Niagara Metros that they're "for real", as they downed Niagara 1-0, last night in Mississauga.  The first-year expansion Twins continued to impress, as they moved into 1st place in the league's Andrews Division.  It was an amazing pitcher's dual, as youngsters Andrew Fostu and Matt Piccini of the Twins, outduelled the Metros' pair of Dustin Turner and Chris Magarian.  Fostu got the win, going 6 innings and allowing 2 hits.  The well-played game featured just one (Mississauga) error, and was over in just over two hours.

Turner took his second straight tough-luck loss, as the 2009 Johnson Division All-Star allowed just 1 run on 5 hits.  He walked 2 and struck out 5 over his 5 innings of work.  Magarian was masterful in relief, tossing 3 innings and allowing 0 runs and 1 hit, while walking 0 and striking out 3.  

The Twins would get the only run they needed in the bottom of the 1st inning, on a single, a walk, and an RBI single from Jerome Smith.  The Metros got runners to 3rd base three times in the first 3 innings, but couldn't come up with the hit when they needed it.  The 4 Niagara hits (all singles) were shared by Matt Spillman, Joe Roach, Jonathan Paul, and Garrett Fisher.

The win improves Mississauga's record to 4-1 on the season, while the Metros drop to 1-2.  Niagara's busy schedule continues this week when they return home on Thursday for a matchup with the Glanbrook Grizzlies, before heading to Brampton on Saturday, for a doubleheader.  That Thursday night home game is at Community Park, and begins at 7:30.   

The Niagara Metros scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, as they defeated the visiting Etobicoke Rangers 5-4 at Community Park last night.  The win evened the Metros record at 1-1, while the Rangers dropped to 1-3 on the young season.  Niagara outhit Etobicoke 9-5 on the game, but needed the 3-run rally after the Rangers scored 2 runs in the top of the 8th, to break a 2-2- tie.

The winning pitcher was T.J. Tavender, the second of 3 Niagara hurlers.  Starter Jason Ermers pitched very effectively, going 5 innings and allowing just 1 hit, but two unearned runs.  He walked 3 and struck out 4.  Tavender, in his first appearance of the season after returning from U.S. College ball, tossed 3 innings, and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 2.  Dave Davidson, making his 2nd straight appearance in relief pitched the 9th inning and struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced, to earn his 1st save.  Kevin Breitner, the 3rd of 4 Ranger pitchers, took the loss.

Rookie Matt Spillman and veteran Andrew Sorochan led the way at the plate for the Metros, with 2 hits each.  Spillman added 2 SB's and 2 runs, while Sorochan chipped in with an RBI.  Dustin Wiley hit a long double and added an RBI, while Jonathan Paul and Evan Baglieri had RBI singles.  Chris Pickles and Tim Collins also singled and Garrett Fisher added an RBI.  Mark Capone doubled and singled to lead the Etobicoke attack.

The Niagara club gets the weekend off, before beginning a very busy run of 4 games in 5 days, next week.  That run begins on Tuesday, as they travel to Mississauga for a meeting with the upstart Twins, before returning home next Thursday for their first match-up of the season with the powerful Glanbrook Grizzlies.  Game time at Community Park, is 7:30.   

The Niagara Metros, after three rainouts, finally got their 2010 season underway last night at Community Park, losing to the determined Burlington Brants by a 6-5 count.  The Metros' rust was evident throughout, but no where more than at the plate, as the Niagara club managed just 6 hits.  It was one bad inning that led to their downfall, as the Brants combined 4 infield hits, a double, and a costly Metros' error to score 5 times, and take a 5-1 lead.  But Niagara scored 3 in the third, another in the 7th, and left two runners on base in both the 8th and 9th innings, as Burlington hung on for the one-run victory.

The hard-luck loser was starter Dustin Turner, who went three innings, allowing 6 hits, and 5 runs (3 earned).  He walked 0 while striking out 4.  Dave Davidson made his first appearance in amateur ball since 2001, and pitching the 4th, he struck out the side, after walking the first 2.  Chris Magarian followed up, and went two effective innings, allowing no runs, and one hit while striking out 3.  Dan Proctor also pitched an inning, allowing a run on 1 hit and 3 walks.  Young lefty Paul Somerville finished up, tossing the final 2 innings allowing 0 runs or hits, while walking 1 and striking out 1. 

Offensively, Niagara got 3 singles and an RBI from rookie catcher, Evan Baglieri, to lead the way.  Andrew Sorochan added a 2-run double, while Jonathan Paul also drove in a run with a double.  Matt Spillman singled to round out the offense.  The Metros drew 9 walks and stole 7 bases during the contest, but couldn't get the key hit with runners on base.  Roger Lambert hit a 2-run double for the Brants.

Next up for Niagara, is a Thursday night meeting with the Etobicoke Rangers, before facing a 4-gamer next week.  Game time for the Metros-Rangers at Community Park is 7:30.

The Niagara Metros (like every other team in Southern Ontario) are having a hard time getting their 2010 season underway.  After a steady rain in Burlington Tuesday, and overnight on Wednesday morning, Nelson Park became a "mud bowl" and forced postponement of the Metros - Brants game in Burlington.  The two teams are working out a reschedule plan, but it has not been announced, as yet.

In the meantime, the Niagara club is hoping for a break in the weather the rest of the day and tomorrow, as their planned home opener is scheduled for Thursday, May 13th.  The Oakville A's are scheduled to come to town for a 7:30 tilt at Community Park.  Fingers crossed!!

The Niagara Metros haven't had a lot of luck getting their 2010 season started, as they got rained out on "Opening Day" this past Saturday.  And it's not looking good for Wednesday and Thursday of this week either, which is coincidentally the next two scheduled games for the team.  So, while the team is "keeping it's fingers crossed", hoping to get going this week, we figured we could tell you about a couple of our website updates.

1. There have been 3 games played in the C.O.M.B.L. so far (through Monday night), and we have update the Standings Page to reflect these games.  We'll be doing that every day, all season long, to keep you right up to date with the ongoing events in the Central Ontaio Major Baseball League.  Just click on "Standings" for the most recent updates.

2.  Also, this week, we have completed (to this point in time) our roster page updates.  With 9 faces gone, and 11 new ones coming in, the task of updating the roster is a big one.  And the changes to the "Roster Page" of our website are just as big.  But they are complete.  When you click on "2010 Roster" to the left of the page you'll see the list of players on the team, with a brief summary of their personal information.  When you click on the name, you'll get a picture of the player, along with a 4 paragraph biography, describing who they are, where they've played, what they've accomplished, prior to 2010.  We hope you take the time to find out who is representing the Niagara Metros for the 2010 season.  We are proud that this talented group of players has chosen our organization to exhibit their talents.

Talk to you after the next game (hopefully Thursday).  Till then, stay on the field.    

The Niagara Metros and Milton Red Sox encountered a little snag prior to their season-opening game in Milton on Saturday afternoon.  The snag took the form of rain, freezing temperatures, and 100 km/h winds.  The game will be rescheduled to a later date, hopefully when the weather is a little more cooperative.

In the meantime, the Metros will prepare to open their season Wednesday night instead.  The Niagara team travels to Burlington for a 7:30 start at Nelson Park...and then return home to open the "home half" of their schedule on Thursday.  Game time for the home opener at Community Park, is 7:30. 

Just when you thought everything was set to go for the season to begin later this week...the sh**  hits the fan!  After a Friday night practice, it was determined that the Dundas Chiefs would have to withdraw from the C.O.M.B.L. for 2010.  The reason cited to league managers (in an email late Friday night) was a lack of players for the Chiefs.  It is a truly unfortunate turn of events, as the Chiefs have been one of the cornerstone franchises in the league for more than 50 years.

With the season less than a week away, the league managers were left scrambling to pick up the pieces of their 2010 schedule.  They decided that, to just drop the Dundas games from the schedule would leave them with "too few", and to add a game to every team would give them "too many".  In the end, they decided that an unbalanced schedule...meaning that the teams would play an extra game against teams from their own Division...would be the answer.  And the league's schedule-maker, Mark Walters, was given the task of revamping the existing schedule, to conform to these new conditions.

The reworking of the schedule is now complete, and the changes have been sent out to the entire league.  The Metros' changes are reflected on the "2010 Schedule" page of our website....highlighted with a "gray" background.  Metros' players are asked to check out them out, and make the subsequent changes to their master schedules, handed out earlier in the year.

With any luck at all (and a little cooperation between the remaining teams), in a few months we'll just look back on this situation as an inconvenience, rather than the undoing of the season.


OH, BY THE WAY...

We have a couple of other things to bring you up-to-date on this week.  As promised, the second half of our 2010 Metros Roster changes will be featured right here.  Last week we told you about the players leaving the Metros this season.  We have to complete the story by unveiling the new players joining the team this summer.  Look for that story on Wednesday.

Finally, we have to tell you about an exciting new "Blog" that is available to our readers.  It is called "Extra Innings: Ontario Senior Baseball News", and as the name suggests, it will feature stories, polls, statistics, and information about anything that is "Senior Baseball related" in Ontario.  One of the highlights of the blog, will be a selection of the Senior Baseball "Player of the Week", which will go out to all the media outlets across Ontario.  This is an exciting opportunity for all the followers of Senior ball to get their "information fix", in one handy location.  The website address is: http://seniorbaseball.blogspot.com/ . 

That's it for now...check back on Wednesday for our next update.  Till then, stay on the field.