After 2 months of pretty much dormant offense, the Niagara Metros bats' came to life last night at Erindale Cardinal Field.  The result was a 13-2 Metros victory over Erindale, in a mercy-shortened 7-inning game.  The Metros, who collected a season-high 15 hits, scored 4 in the 1st, and 5 in the 2nd, and left the rest up to starting pitcher Geoff Strong.

Strong threw 6 very effective innings (against one of the top offensive teams in the province) to pick up his 2nd win of the season.  He allowed 1 run on 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out 6.  T.J. Tavender pitched the 7th inning and allowed a run on 1 hit and 3 walks, while striking out 1.  Erindale starter Chris Currie took the loss.

Veteran catcher Jono Marcheterre had a career game with the bat for Niagara, collecting a double, 3 singles and a walk for 4 RBI's to lead the way.  Andrew Sorochan added 5 RBI's on the strength of a 2-run double and a 3-run HR, while Steve Baldinelli added a triple, 2 singles and 2 more RBI's.  Evan Baglieri hit a double and a single for an RBI, and Dan Proctor added a triple and 3 runs scored.  Rounding out the attack were Jonathan Paul with a pair of singles, and Mike Czerwieniec with another single.  Geoff Cullen had an RBI double for the Cardinals.

The win improves Niagara's record to 7-6 in C.O.M.B.L. action, 2 1/2 games behind the Glanbrook Grizzlies in the Johnson Division.  Erindale drops below the .500 mark in the Andrews Division, with a record of 7-8-1.  Next up for Niagara is a road game tomorrow night (Wednesday) in Burlington as they take on the Brants at Nelson Park.  There will be no regular Thursday home game this week, due to the Canada Day holiday, so the next game at Community Park will be Monday July 5, as the Brampton Battlecats come to town.  First pitch is at 7:30.

The Niagara Metros' recent 6-game winning streak is a distant memory now, as they dropped their second game in as many days at Community Park, last night.  The 9-3 drubbing they absorbed on Friday to the Oakville A's, followed a 6-1 loss to the Milton Red Sox on Thursday.  Niagara now finds themselves back at the .500 mark on the season.

In Friday's 9-3 loss to Oakville, it was the Jeff Jarockis show, as the former league HR champion crushed 2 bombs, and added 4 RBI's to his totals.  Josh Kennedy added a solo HR for the A's, who totaled 10 hits on the night.  The Metros 7-hit attack was led by Andrew Sorochan, who drove in 2 runs with a double, while Tim Collins added a double and an RBI.  Dustin Wiley also doubled, while Joe Roach, Jonathan Paul, Dan Proctor, and Chris Pickles all added singles.

Marc Walton went the distance to pick up the win for the A's, striking out 7.  Niagara starter Jason Ermers was cruising along with a 1-hitter through 3 innings, before his back tightened up, and the roof caved in.  Ermers was removed with 1 out in the 5th, having allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 4 hits.  He walked 1 and struck out 6.  Paul Somerville pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief, allowing 4 runs, 5 hits, 3 walks, and added 4 K's.  Jonathan Paul pitched 1/3 of an inning, allowing a hit, before giving way to Dave Davidson, who tossed a perfect inning, with 2 strikeouts.

On Thursday night, the Milton Red Sox played a nearly flawless game to hand the Metros their 6-1 loss.  After taking a 2-0 lead through 3 innings, they took advantage of 2 Niagara errors in the 4th, to score 3 unearned runs, and let starting pitcher Ian Zettle do the rest.

The veteran Zettle went 7 innings and allowed Niagara just 6 scattered singles, and no runs.  Scott McTrach pitched the final two innings, allowing the lone Metros run, and 5 hits.  Niagara starter, Steve Baldinelli went 5 innings and took the loss, but was victimized by his teammates' 4-error performance behind him.  Baldinelli allowed 5 runs (1 earned), and 4 hits.  He walked 5 and struck out 4.  T.J. Tavender pitched very well in relief for Niagara, going 4 innings and allowing a single run, and 2 hits, while walking 2 and striking out 5.

For the second straight game, the Metros outhit their opponents (10-6), but couldn't bunch their hits together.  Milton's Kevin Greer was the "Metro-killer" in the game, as he doubled twice and added a single, for a 3-RBI night.  Joe Roach and Jonathan Paul collected 3 hits each to lead Niagara, while Jono Marcheterre added a pair of singles.  Dustin Wiley picked up an RBI-double, while Andrew Sorochan, Evan Baglieri, and Geoff Strong rounded out the offense with singles.

As mentioned, the Metros now find themselves back at the .500 mark on the season, with a record of 6-6.  They are now 3 full games back of the Glanbrook Grizzlies in the Johnson Division.  And it doesn't get any easier for Niagara, as they take on the always tough Erindale Cardinals, Monday night in Erindale.  With next Thursday being Canada Day, there is no regular Thursday night home game for Niagara, so the next game at Community Park is Monday, July 5th versus the Brampton Battlecats.  Game time, as always, is 7:30.

The Glanbrook Grizzlies broke open a close game with 4 runs in the 5th inning, and coasted to a 6-2 victory over the Niagara Metros at Bernie Arbour Stadium last night.  The win snapped Niagara's winning streak at 6 games, and extended Glanbrook's lead over the Metros, in the Johnson Division, to 2 games.

The Grizzlies scored one in the 3rd, and 1 in the 4th, before breaking it open in the 5th inning, making a winner out of starter Chris Cooney.  Andrew Page came in in the 9th, to snuff out a bases loaded rally by the Metros.  Niagara starter Geoff Strong took the loss (to even his record at 1-1), going 4 2/3 innings.  He allowed 7 hits, and 5 runs (4 earned), while walking 3 and striking out 4.  Paul Somerville pitched 1 1/3 innings, and allowed 1 run and 2 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1.  T.J. Tavender pitched a perfect 6 up - 6 down 8th and 9th innings, with 3 K's.

Glanbrook SS Brock Marshall led the offense with a double and a single driving in a run, while Justin Czorny added an RBI double.  For Niagara, the 12-hit attack was their biggest of the season, but they were unable to string anything together.  Tim Collins had 3 hits, while Evan Baglieri and Jonathan Paul added 2 each.  Jono Marcheterre and Dan Proctor added a single and an RBI each, while Andrew Sorochan, Aaron Butler, and Brandon Beattie also singled.

The win improves the Grizz' record to 9-3, and they extend their league lead in the C.O.M.B.L. standings, to 1 1/2 games.  The Metros drop to 6-4.  Niagara gets a couple of days off before returning home later this week.  They have back-to-back home games...Thursday versus the Milton Red Sox, and Friday versus the Oakville A's.  Both games are at Community Park, starting at 7:30.

Dustin Turner became the first Niagara pitcher to go the 9-inning distance this season, as he tossed a 3-hit shutout in defeating the Oakville A's 4-0, last night at Community Park.  The win marked the 6th straight victory for the Metros (including a win in the Oshawa Tournament last weekend), after getting off to a 1-3 start to the year.

Turner was in total control of the game last night, as he limited the powerful A's to 3 singles.  He issued two walks and struck out 12, and his defense backed him with some fine play, committing just 1 error, in the 2 1/2 hour game.  The loss went to A's starter Marc Walton, who also pitched well, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits over 7 innings.

Niagara got all they would need in the 3rd when they scored a pair of runs, and then added two more in the 4th, and let Turner do the rest.  Catcher Dustin Wiley doubled and added an RBI single to lead the way offensively for the Metros.  Andrew Sorochan added a pair of singles and an RBI, while Mike Czerwieniec added a single and two stolen bases, including one of home.  Matt Spillman, Joe Roach, Brandon Beattie, and Garrett Fisher rounded out the 9-hit attack for Niagara.  Carter Buchanan, Courtney Morales, and John Wulf collected the hits for Oakville.

The Metros record improves to 6-3 with the win, and moves them to within 1 1/2 games of first place Glanbrook, in the Johnson Division standings.  Oakville drops to the .500 mark, at 4-4-1.  Speaking of Glanbrook, they will be the Metros' next opponents as they travel to Bernie Arbour Stadium in Hamilton on Sunday night.  After that, they return home for a pair of games next week.  Thursday night they host the Milton Red Sox, and Friday the Oakville club returns to St. Catharines for the make up of an earlier rainout.  Both games are at Community Park at 7:30. 

The C.O.M.B.L. schedule-maker (Metros' GM), Mark Walters has been busily preparing the final draft of the Divisional Format and Schedule for the Hap Walters Tourney.  And he is happy to announce that it is finished, and that emails are going out to all 16 teams entered in the 2010 event.  To refresh your memory, this year's "Hap" will feature 16 of the best "A" teams from across Ontario, and will be held in Mississauga and Etobicoke on the weekend of July 16, 17, and 18.

After consulting with Tourney Convenors David Huctwith and Greg Cranker, Mark has put together (what the committee feels will be) four very strong and competitive divisions.  The schedule will feature Saturday doubleheaders for all of the teams that have to do some travelling...creating more free time for those teams to either rest, see the sights, or head home, if the situation calls for it.  Another unique feature of the tourney is that (because of the similar nature and quality of the parks being used), each Division will play in one park throughout the round-robin portion of the tourney.   This will limit travel and potential confusion regarding directions to various parks, over the wide Mississauga-Etobicoke corridor.

The committee also took the opportunity to add to the list of honourees being recognized during the tourney (in addition to long-time St. Catharines baseball builder and St. Catharines Sports Hall-of-Fame member, Hap Walters, who's name the tournament bears).  The group decided that each division should likewise carry the name of a longtime builder in the C.O.M.B.L., who have left us these past few years.  So the "A" Pool is named the "Ray Pomfret Division", the "B" Pool is now known as the "Barry Salt Division", Pool "C" will be the "Bill Graham Division", and Pool "D" is now called the "Dave Dash Division".  All four men were instumental in the development of the C.O.M.B.L. until their untimely passing in the late 90's or early 2000's.   

For all of the details, including Divisional Format, Schedule, and Tournament Rules, click on the "Hap Walters Tourney" link, to the left of this page.


SCHEDULE UPDATES

Walters has also been busy rescheduling all of the early season rainouts over the past little while, and as of yesterday, all four of the rainouts from May and early June are set.  The new dates are: June 25, July 4, July 13, and July 23.  To get all of the details regarding these rescheduled games, click on "Schedule / Results" at the lft of the page.  The changes to the original schedule are hilighted in "yellow".


OAKVILLE IN TOWN THURSDAY

Finally, just a reminder about the Metros next game.  It will be Thursday night in St. Catharines, as the Oakville A's come to town for their first of 3 meetings with Niagara.  First pitch, at Community Park, is 7:30.  See you there!  

The "worst-case scenario" happened to Convenor Ryan McBride, at the Oshawa Invitational Tourney this weekend.  Mother Nature hit...and hit hard on Saturday morning, forcing postponement of all 12 of Saturday's scheduled games, and thus, washing out the remainder of the tournament.  There was no winner declared.

The Niagara Metros did get to play one game on Friday night, and although there were a few glitches, they emerged with a 2-0 victory over the Milton Red Sox.  The game (scheduled to begin at 8:30) didn't start until 9:35, due to the fact that the Thornhill-Markham game started an hour and a half late, because of technical difficulties at Kirky Park.  Niagara and Milton did get into the 7th inning, with Niagara holding a 2-0 lead after 6, but the park lights (which are on a timer) went out in the top of the 7th, with Milton batting and having 2 runners on with none out.  Tournament rules, however, stated that when a game has past the 5-inning mark, it is deemed official, and therefore any incomplete inning after that point will result in the game being reverted back to the last completed inning.  In this case, at the completion of the 6th, Niagara held a 2-0 lead.  That was the final.

The winner was righthander Geoff Strong, who was simply incredible, tossing a 2-hit complete game shutout.  Strong walked none, and struck out 11, to pick up his first win as a "Metro".  In fact, he struck out the side three times, during his 6-inning stint.  Scott McTrach also pitched very effectively for the Red Sox, taking the loss although only allowing 1 run and two hits.  The Metros collected their other run (and three hits) off reliever Kevin Cooper.

Rookie Evan Baglieri led Niagara at the plate hitting a double, and a long solo HR, scoring both Metros runs.  Andrew Sorochan, Dustin Wiley, and Jono Marcheterre added the other hits for Niagara.  Kevin Greer and Sean Mathe accounted for all the the Red Sox offense. 

As mentioned the Metros' other two scheduled games, against Thornhill and Markham were both washed out, leaving the team with a record of 1-0 at the Oshawa affair.  Niagara will get a few days off now, before returning to C.O.M.B.L. action on Thursday, as the Oakville A's come to Community Park for a 7:30 game.  They then take to the road on Sunday night, as they travel to Hamilton, to take on the first place Glanbrook Grizzlies.  Game time at Bernie Arbour Stadium, is 7:30.

For the second straight game the Niagara Metros scored late to steal a 4-3 victory, this time from the Burlington Brants at Community park on Monday.  On Saturday, the Metros scored 2 runs in the 8th to edge Milton.  Last night Niagara got a run in the bottom of the 9th to break a 3-3 deadlock, and take the victory.  The hero was Dan Proctor, who singled over the left side of the infield to deliver Aaron Butler (who had walked to lead off the inning) with the winning run.

Proctor's heroics made a winner of reliever Dave Davidson, who was the 5th pitcher used by Niagara in the game.  Davidson, pitching in back-to-back games for the first time during his MLB rehab, pitched a 3 up - 3 down 9th, with one strikeout.  With the Oshawa Tourney coming up on the weekend, the Metros gave starters Dustin Turner and Jason Ermers 3 innings each, while Paul Somerville and Geoff Strong also went an inning.  Turner allowed no runs and 3 hits, while walking 1 and striking out 6, during his 3 innings.  Ermers also held the Brants scoreless, giving up a walk and a hit while striking out 4.  Somerville was touched for a pair of runs (1 earned), on two hits and a walk, adding a strikeout...and Strong allowed one run on two hits and a walk, while striking out 2.  Trevor Woodjets took the loss in relief of C.J. Cabrero, for the Brants.

Offensively, the Metros managed 7 hits but strung 3 of them together with two out in the 2nd, to score 3 times.  Chris Pickles (RBI), Jono Marcheterre (RBI) and Evan Baglieri all hit doubles to lead the Niagara attack.  Mike Czerwieniec, Tim Collins (RBI), Steve Baldinelli and Proctor (GWRBI) all added singles.  Roger Lambert had a pair of hits and an RBI for Burlington.

The win improves Niagara's record to 5-3, putting them a game behind the Division-leading Glanbrook Grizzlies in the Johnson Division of the C.O.M.B.L.  Burlington drops to 2-5.  As mentioned, the Metros head to Oshawa this coming weekend, to take part in the 5th annual Oshawa Royals Invitational.  We'll have more details on that and other things, later in the week.  Next league action is Thursday, June 17th, as the Oakville A's pay their first visit to Community Park.  Game time, as always, is 7:30.      

The Niagara Metros scored two runs in the top of the 8th inning and held on, to edge the Milton Red Sox 4-3, in a very well-played game at Brian Best Park in Milton.  The two teams committed one error apiece, while the pitchers combined to allow just 6 walks, in a game that was over in 2 hours and 25 minutes.  The Metros took a 2-0 lead in the 4th, on a solo HR by rookie Dan Proctor, and an RBI single by Geoff Strong.  But Milton countered in the 6th, by combining 4 singles with a pair of walks.  Niagara countered in the 8th, however, by pushing across 2 runs, with the GWRBI coming on a 2-out double by Andrew Sorochan.

Once again Niagara  got outstanding pitching, as T.J. Tavender (making his first start of the season), Chris Magarian, and Dave Davidson combined on the hill.  Tavender went 5 1/3 innings, allowing 6 hits and 3 runs, while walking 1 and striking out 4.  Magarian, who picked up the win, allowed 0 runs and 3 hits, with 2 walks and 4 K's.  Davidson earned the save, as he struck out the side in the 9th.  Kevin Cooper, the second of 3 Red Sox hurlers, took the loss.

Strong led the Metros at the plate, with 3 hits and an RBI, while Proctor homered and singled driving in 1 and scoring 2.  Sorochan, as mentioned, collected an RBI double, while Dustin Wiley added a single.  Carlos D'Costa led the Red Sox with 3 hits, while Lee Mathe had a pair.  The Metros' infield turned a couple of double plays, to thwart potential Milton uprisings in the 1st and 8th innings.

With the win, Niagara climbs over the .500 mark to 4-3, while the Red Sox drop to 3-4-1 on the young season.  On Monday, the Metros take to the field at Community Park, for their final tune-up prior to the Oshawa Invitational Tourney, next weekend.  The Burlington Brants come to town for a 7:30 start.