After winning a pair of high-scoring baseball games last Saturday, the midget AAA Cowichan Valley Mustangs lost two games the next day at the very opposite end of the scoring spectrum.
The Mustangs beat the Central Okanagan Sun Devils 23-12 and 12-3 in Kelowna on Saturday, then lost to the North Fraser Nationals by scores of 2-1 and 1-0 in Burnaby on Sunday.
Leadoff batter Cam LeSergent set the tone in Saturday’s first game when he walked on four pitches, reached second and third on wild pitches, and then scored on a single by Morley Scott.
The Mustangs scored three runs in the first inning, seven in the second, two in the fourth and 11 in the fifth. Their 13 hits were spread out through the lineup, with LeSergent, Scott, Nolan Fothergill, Hayden Plester and Billy Ramwell each putting up two. Josh McCann finished with four RBIs, and Scott and Fothergill had three each. LeSergent also recorded a double, and had two steals in the game. Scott and Fothergill also stole two bases, and Plester and Ramwell had one steal apiece.
The Mustangs needed just five hits to score 12 runs in their afternoon game against the Sun Devils. Scott went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and three steals, and Matteo Iorio was 2-for-4 with one RBI. Scott also pitched five innings, giving up three hots and three earned runs while striking out four, and Iorio pitched the last two innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. Plester added a pair of steals, and LeSergent, Fothergill, McCann and Cameron Linn each stole one base.
Offence was a little harder for the Mustangs to come up with on Sunday. They were held to one hit in the first game, a second-inning single by Tyler Dobson, and the lone run came in the top of the fourth when Fothergill walked, stole second and third, then scored on an error by the North Fraser catcher. After Fothergill’s run, the score remained 1-0 for Cowichan until the Nationals scored twice in the bottom of the seventh. Plester pitched six and one third innings, allowing just seven hits and two walks, and issuing nine strikeouts.
The Mustangs mustered six hits in the second game against the Nationals, led by Scott, who went 3-for-3 with a double and a steal. McCann also stole two bases. Fothergill pitched a six-inning gem, striking out five while allowing four hits. The lone run was unearned and came in the fifth inning.
Cowichan will host a three-team Battle of the Rock at the Chemainus ball fields this Sunday. The Mustangs face the Victoria Eagles at 9:30 a.m., Victoria plays North Island at 12:30 p.m. and Cowichan takes on North Island at 3:30 p.m.