On Sunday afternoon, the Lambton Lions men’s baseball team dropped their third consecutive game to start the season with a 6-3 loss to the Durham Lords.
As was the case for the Lions in the first two games of the season against Seneca, a slow start in the first inning put Lambton down early. Lambton allowed a combined nine runs in the first inning over their two games against the Sting, but they were looking for a better showing on Sunday.
Paul Sheeler took to the mound for the Lions on the afternoon, and he was looking to keep the Lords in check on their home field. After Lambton College went three up, three down in the top half of the first inning, Sheeler and the Lions were looking to contain the Lords in the bottom half.
The Lords led off their half of the first inning with a double, and a hit batter followed to put two runners on-base with none out. Durham would bring three runners across in the inning to take a 3-0 lead after the opening frame.
Lambton tried to chip away at the lead, but it wasn’t until the fourth inning where they were able to muster up some offense. Drew Pepper led off the inning with a double, and the first four batters of the inning successfully reached base. In his first game of the season, Garrett Miller followed the double with a single of his own to score Pepper from second base for the Lions’ first run of the game.
Riley Brown and Brady Hogg both walked to load the bases for the Lions with none out in the inning. Eric Steeves proceed to ground into a double play in the next at-bat, but Miller came across to cut the deficit to 3-2.
In the bottom half, Durham added three more runs to push their lead back to 6-2. The Lions would add another run in the sixth inning when Brown came across to score on a fielding error by the Lords, but that was as close as they would get.
Lambton dropped their third straight game to start the season, 6-3.
The Lions mustered just three hits on the afternoon, all of which came from the first three batters in the lineup. Miller went 1-for-3 in his debut with one RBI and a run scored. Hogg picked up three walks while Brown was issued two free passes and scored one run.
In the first two games of the season, the Lions’ play on defense was cause for concern. Having committed six errors through two games, Lambton committed just one error on Sunday. With the first weekend jitters now out of the way, Head Coach James Grant expects things to tighten up on both sides of the ball.
This week, the Lions return home to host the St. Clair Saints in the home opener for Lambton. The Lions and Saints will take their rivalry to the diamond for the first time on Wednesday, September 11th at Stan Slack Field at Errol Russell Park.
First pitch of the double-header is scheduled for 6 p.m., and Game Two will follow at approximately 8:30 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early for pre-game ceremonies to mark the special occasion.