.JPG)
Reds end rough July with win over Sarnia
In what was a rough month for Oakridge, they capped off July with an unlikely win over a top senior opponent.
At the end of June, Oakridge had a strong hold on first place in the TVSBL standings, with a 6-1 record. It turned out that July would not be as nice to the Reds, as they went into a skid that included 6 losses - a streak that was halted with a win over the London Giants last Saturday. They then carried that momentum into an exhibition contest against the Sarnia Braves, who visited Dan Pulham Field the next afternoon.
A combination of pitching, good defense, and timely at bats was the key to taking down a tough Sarnia team, who are a AAA caliber senior team who play in the very strong Can-Am league based out of Windsor & area. Getting the start for Oakridge was Kevin Lunter, who cruised through three scoreless innings that included two strikeouts and one hit. Taking the ball from there was Junior aged call up Kyle Gormandy, who was making his Oakridge Senior debut on the day. Gormandy looked very comfortable against a Sarnia lineup that boasts plenty of college and in some cases pro experience. His stat line included one run on five hits, with one walk and six strikeouts in six stellar innings. Catching for Gormandy was fellow London West Junior teammate Dylan Lee, who added an RBI triple in the 7th to put Oakridge up 3-1.
Matt Bunoza and Matt Johnston each had two hits for Oakridge early on, and Ryan Woods also chipped in with two runs scored. Sarnia sent six different pitchers to the mound on the day, and the Reds didn't show any sign of weakness against any of them - an encouraging sign as they move towards tournament season in late August / early September.
With four games left in the Thames Valley league season, Oakridge will need to finish strong in order to secure a top four seed in the playoff seedings. The Reds travel to Listowel on Friday night to play at the Legion, which will surely be another measuring stick game moving forward.
Keep updated with the team by following on twitter @OakridgeReds and at Facebook.com/OakridgeRedsBaseballClub