Reds end Regular Season with Split vs Listowel
Oakridge finished their TVSBL regular season with a home and home series against the Listowel Legionnaires on the weekend of August 17 & 18th. A 9-8 loss on Saturday and 16-10 win on Sunday earned them a 10-8 record on the season, good enough for a 4th place finish heading into the playoffs.
am Though it had a disappointing end result, Saturday's 9-8 loss was encouraging for a Reds team who was 0-3 in 2012 against the Legionnaires, who always seem to boast a strong lineup filled with tough outs. Eric Rathbone and Spencer Cleaver combined for a strong effort on the mound, as they both pitched well enough to keep the game close throughout the evening. Some untimely errors early on cost the Reds, as they found themselves down 4-0 and 6-3 midway through the game. A sixth inning rally brought Oakridge within one in the 6th, until the last inning where they found themselves down three runs yet again. Listowel brought in Julio Guzman for the save, and the Reds went to work immediately, as Cody and Spencer Cleaver started the inning back to back singles. After a Matt Johnston hit by pitch, Eric Rathbone cut the lead to one with an RBI single. Unfortunately that's as close as Oakridge would get, as they stranded the tying and winning runs to lose 9-8.
With Saturday's loss fresh in their minds, the Reds traveled to the Legion in Listowel to play in front of a good crowd on Sunday afternoon to finish out the regular season. The offense went to work right away, scoring three in each of the first two innings. That would be enough for Jeff Barker, who went five innings and recorded the win. Though he gave up 10 hits, Barker was able to strike out six to go with no walks in his 88 pitch outing. Listowel managed to score in the 2nd and 3rd to bring the game within a run, but Oakridge quickly rallied in the 4th inning with eight runs, putting the game away for good. Junior aged call up Kyle Gormandy made his second appearance for Oakridge, scattering three hits, and striking out nine - including three in a row to end the game. Offensively, Jon Park lead the way with three hits, three RBI, and three runs scored. Dylan Lee had two hits and was on base four times in his 3rd appearance with the team, and Kevin Dugal reached safely five times, which included four walks and a single.
With the win, Oakridge kept Listowel from winning the regular season pennant - as Kincardine took the head to head matchup between the two clubs, and thus the tiebreaker for first. The Cubs will open the first round against 8th place London Giants. Elsewhere on Sunday, the London Area Angels knocked off Mitchell in extra innings, which set up a first round matchup between the two teams in the 3 v 6 spot. Listowel will be taking on 7 seed St Thomas, who beat Byron on Monday night, keeping them from the 4 seed and home field advantage.
With the 4 seed, Oakridge will host game 1 against Byron at Pulham Field this Thursday August 22nd. Game two will be held in Byron on Sunday Aug 25, and Game 3 if necessary at Pulham on Monday Aug 26th. The winners of each series will move on to play for the TVSBL Playoff Championship in a four team tournament on September 6, 7, 8 weekend.
Keep up with the team by following on twitter @OakridgeReds or on facebook.com/OakridgeRedsBaseballClub