U15 Nationals offence struggles against Brantford, crushes Cambridge on the road

Stratford pitcher Landon McCann hands the ball to coach Rick Boon alongside his teammates on the mound in the fifth inning against the Brantford Red Sox at Stratford National Stadium on May 28.

The Stratford 15U Nationals experienced a high mix of lows and highs, which resulted in a .500 week against Brantford and Cambridge.

On May 28, the Nationals aimed to extend their winning streak by hosting the Brantford Red Sox at the relatively cool, sunny Stratford National Stadium.

Brantford opened the scoring at the top of the first with a 2-0 lead. After starting pitcher Landon McCann and the defence retired the side in the top half of the second, the Nationals looked to capitalize in their half of the inning, but the aggressive baserunning by Dexter Powell attempting to score from second base backfired as Powell was tagged at home plate.

Stratford continued to press for the equalizer in the next inning with Jackson Goebel and Will Molenhuis in scoring position with two outs, but Jake Price struck out looking, ending the inning. In the fourth, the Nationals again pressed for the game-tying score with Powell and James Antonio at the corners with two outs, but Carter Cook struck out to end the inning.

The Nationals’ lack of offensive scoring was costly as the Red Sox scored three runs in the fifth inning, sealing the game. Despite gutsy efforts from McCann and Molenhuis on the mound, costly offensive and defensive errors led to a 5-0 loss.

McCann pitched four-plus innings, gave up three earned on two hits, allowed five walks, and struck out two. Aside from the fifth inning, Molenhuis subdued the Red Sox's offence in the remaining innings for Stratford.

Coach Rick Boon blamed the team's loss on poor pitch selection, noting that while the pitchers performed well, the batters swung at pitches they couldn't hit.

“I thought our pitching did well tonight. I think both our pitchers pitched well. I think the downfall of our game tonight was that we just had poor pitch selection that we were swinging at. We weren't swinging at pitches that we could drive; we were swinging at pitches that the pitcher for their team threw,” Boon said.

“They pitch well, but we have to be more selective in what we swing at. If it's not a good pitch, you can drive; you should be letting it go to get into a good hitter's count. We didn't do that tonight.”

On June 1, the Nationals travelled to Cambridge for a road matchup with the Cubs. Stratford got off to a scorching start with a seven-run first inning, followed by a four-run second inning. After the Nationals put eight runs in the fourth, the lead was 19-0, only for the Cubs to escape the mercy rule at the time with six runs in the bottom half of the inning.

In the next inning, however, the visitors added nine more runs and forced the game to end on the mercy rule after retiring the Cubs’ side in order.

Powell led the grand barrage of runs with four RBI’s, while Price led the team with three hits. Every member of the Stratford starting roster scored one run or more in the win. Starting pitcher Max Barter pitched three scoreless innings, struck out four and allowed three hits. Goebel pitched the fourth and Reid Musselman finished off the Cubs in the scoreless fifth to enforce the early win.