Opportunistic U15 Nationals beat lowly Cubs

Stratford pitcher Blake Mogk throws the first pitch of the third inning against the Cambridge Cubs at Stratford National Stadium on June 4.

The core motto of the world-famous reality show Survivor is “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.”

On June 4, the Stratford U15 Nationals lived up to that classic motto by defeating the Cambridge Cubs 16-7 at Stratford National Stadium.

Blake Mogk started on the mound for the Nationals and faced a tough go through over two-plus innings. Cambridge got off to a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning when the Nationals' offence took advantage of two Cambridge defensive errors and scored three runs to cut the lead to a run heading into the fourth inning.

With the bases loaded and no outs in the Cubs’ half of the inning, Mogk was relieved by Carter Cook. Despite a two-out walk to generate the run to increase the visitors' lead to 6-4, Cook and the Nationals escaped further damage.

In their half of the inning, the Nationals pulled ahead for the first time with three runs to lead 7-6. After the Cubs tied the game at seven apiece in the next inning, the Nationals continued to pour on the offence and took advantage of the defensive miscues committed by the Cubs with four runs in their half to lead 10-7 through four innings.

Cook and the Nationals' defence settled down and kept the Cubs scoreless in the remaining innings, and the offence made the Cubs pay with opportunistic baseball and six more in the final two innings to put the game out of reach. Max Barter pitched a clean seventh and final inning to seal the win for the home side. In total, Cambridge committed nine errors while allowing 12 hits and 16 runs.

Jackson Goebel led the team with three hits and co-led the Nationals with two RBI’s each with Cook and Will Molenhuis. Nine of the 10 members of the starting lineup crossed home plate, with Quintin Parr the only starter to not score a run.

After the game, Stratford coach Rick Boon remarked that the team showed resilience by overcoming a tough start, despite playing only four games in the past three weeks, to secure a convincing win.

“We came back and missed the first couple of weeks to give us a bit, but we were trying to preach the fact that we’re never over in a game, we got to keep battling through everything, and we put two and three hits together, and then good things came,” Boon said.

“I think it was just good pitch selection. The pitcher was throwing the ball in spots where we didn't swing at bad pitches tonight, unlike last week. We swung at good pitches, and we put the contact on and put two and three hits together and start piling up runs, so that's how we get them.”

Next week, the Nationals face two crucial games: an away game on June 10 against the top-ranked Waterloo Tigers Team 1, and a home game on June 11 against the Guelph Royals Team 1. Currently, Guelph trails Stratford by four points in the standings, while Waterloo remains undefeated in the Intercounty Baseball Association league with an 8-0 record, six points clear of third-place Stratford.

Boon understands that the team requires more practice and fewer errors in its upcoming matches against Waterloo and Guelph.

“Tough week, we have practice on more practice one day, and then we gotta knock it back in like Waterloo and Guelph. There'll be tough games, so we're gonna have to come ready to play and cut down on the little mistakes that we made tonight. We just can't make those mistakes,” Boon said.