Bantam Eagles Pre-Season Warm Up Games, Scores and Notes
After months of Winter training, a warm-up tournament in Langley followed by a double header in Nanaimo over the past couple of weeks showed the boys what they need to work on for game time.
Written By Brian Blair, Photo by Katie Militello
March 5-6, 2022
The Bantam Victoria Eagles team traveled to Langley for a pre-season warm-up tournament.
Game 1 saw them face off versus Cloverdale. Reese Hammond and Solomon Anderson were stellar on the mound, throwing a combined 1 hitter with 11 strikeouts. Nathan Knight was hot at the plate and sparked the offence, going 4 for 4, with 3 RBI, in what turned out to be a 8-0 win for Victoria.
Game 2 put the Eagles up against a very tough Langley team. Knight took the mound and struck out 9 over 4 innings, but ended up taking the loss in a 4-0 game. A couple of untimely errors ended up costing the Eagles in this game, as both team’s pitchers were dominant. Each team struck out 12 times and there were only 9 combined hits in the game.
Early Sunday morning, the Eagles took the field against Whalley. This game stayed tight until the 6th, when Whalley broke out for 6 runs, to take a 7-0 lead. The Eagles clawed back to make the final 7-3, with Knight knocking in 2 more runs. Brody Ruffle got the start and pitched a solid 4 innings.
After a quick break, the Delta Blue Jays were up next. The Victoria boys seemed tired and a series of defensive errors in the second led to an early 5-0 deficit. The Eagles got one back in the 4th after a triple by Brody Ruffle, but Delta tacked on 2 more in the 5th and another 5 in the 7th to make the final 12-1.
March 12, 2022
Saturday saw the Eagles Bantam team head north to play a double header against the Nanaimo Pirates.
Game 1 got off to a good start for Victoria due to some tentative pitching from Nanaimo, with a couple of walks and a dropped third strike leading to an early 1-0 lead, as Kaden Militello came into score. In the third, Reese Hammond hit a double to left centre, scoring Matt Levecque, before scoring himself on a wild throw, to make it 3-0. That was more than enough, as the Victoria pitchers shut down Nanaimo. Hammond started and pitched 3 scoreless innings, striking out 8. Victoria tacked on another run in the 5th for new Victoria pitcher, Aldous Johnson, on some opportunistic base running, as Militello scored again. Brody Ruffle came in to close out the game and Victoria hung on for a 4-1 win. The pitching trio combined for 15 strikeouts over the 7 innings.
Game 2 started after a short turnaround and was a more entertaining affair. Both teams traded runs over what turned out to be a 9 inning 5-5 tie. Victoria took the lead in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, only for Nanaimo to tie it up each time. The Victoria pitchers struggled a bit more in this game, giving up 12 walks to only 8 strikeouts, while the Nanaimo pitchers were almost the opposite, having 11 strikeouts to 7 walks. However, every time Nanaimo looked like they would take the lead, a big strikeout or defensive play stuffed the rally. Aricin Seto had a big 2 RBI single in the 4th, while Levecque drove in a run in the 5th, for the offensive highlights. Victoria’s other runs came courtesy of Nanaimo errors.
The next games are scheduled for this weekend in Parksville versus the Royals.
