SARNIA – The Lions loved their free stuff in Game One, courtesy of the Colts.
On Friday Night, the Lambton Men’s Baseball Team recorded just three hits at the plate, but they capitalized on numerous errors by Centennial to come away with an 8-5 win in the first game of their doubleheader at Errol Russell Park.
The win improved Lambton’s record to 3-0 to start the year, while the Colts suffered their first defeat of the year and fell to 3-1.
Cole Brydges (Sarnia, Ont.) got the start on the mound for the Lions, his second of the season. In the Lions’ season opener, Brydges threw a six-inning complete game against the Sheridan Bruins, helping the Lions to a 15-3 win.
In the top of the first, the Colts got on the scoreboard first after a throwing error from third baseman Gavyn Vrbos-Clarkson (Jarvis, Ont.) with two outs kept the inning alive and allowed a pair of runners to score.
The Lions didn’t waste any time getting those runs back. In their half of the first, the first five batters for the Lions reached base, with Centennial starter Luke Ciavoliello responsible for all five (three walks, a hit by pitch, and an error). Logan Buntrock (Sarnia, Ont.) and Tyler Gould (Stratford, Ont.) showed off their speed on the basepaths, both stealing a base and coming around to score in the inning.
Lambton led 4-2 after the first inning and would take a 5-2 lead after two.
The Colts added a pair in their half of the third inning and would then tie things up at 5-all with another run in the fourth. Despite building some early momentum, the Lions weren’t able to find their rhythm at the plate, thus allowing the Colts to draw even.
In the sixth inning, with Brydges still going strong on the mound, the Lions were once again the beneficiaries of poor fielding from the Colts. Three consecutive errors from the visitors injected life back into the Lambton bench, and it was only a matter of time before the knockout blow was delivered.
After Buntrock hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring across the eventual winning run, Gould stepped and delivered the shot that the Lions needed. He laced a double to right center to score a pair and put the Lions ahead by three, at 8-5.
Brydges came back out for the seventh and got some help from his defense to seal the deal. Buntrock and Brayden Taylor (Brucefield, Ont.) made back-to-back stellar catches on the run to thwart the offense for the Colts, and a groundout to Gould at short would seal the deal.
For the third time in his Lambton career, Brydges threw a complete game for the win. He improved his record to 2-0 on the season.
Tyler Gould finished with three runs batted in and a stolen base, while Buntrock added in a double and an RBI to go along with a pair of stolen bases.