AXEMEN BLINK FIRST IN GAME ONE PITCHERS DUEL WITH BLACKHAWKS

Posted August 23, 2014


AXEMEN BLINK FIRST IN GAME ONE PITCHERS DUEL WITH BLACKHAWKS

Game one of the 2014 NCABL Championships was an opportunity for baseball fans to see two of the leagues top pitchers go head to head as the best of three series between the Camrose Axemen and the Edmonton Blackhawks got underway on Saturday afternoon at Footz Field. On the hill for the Axemen was Cory Martz who would finish with a 1.05 ERA in the 2014 NCABL season, good enough for second in the league behind his game one opponent Regan Hoet of the Blackhawks who finished the year with a 0.79 ERA. Fans were treated to a sub two hour game as both pitchers worked quickly, but it was the Blackhawks offence that would breakout first to take game one.

Game 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E LOB
Camrose Axemen 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1 7
Edmonton Blackhawks 0 0 0 0 0 5 - 5 5 1 5

Win - Regan Hoet

Loss - Cory Martz (3-2)

Heading into the game against the Blackhawks, P Cory Martz had only suffered two losses in his Axemen career, a loss to the Edmonton Athletics in 2011 and last weekend's game two loss against the Westlock Red Lions in their semi-final series. While Martz was not the overpowering right hander that the Axemen saw in the 2011 season where he recorded 60 strikeouts against 122 batters in 34 innings, he would find ways to win games going 10-1 from the 2011 and 2013 seasons with the Axemen including finishing 3-0 in 2014 in three games started. Martz would show that he could get opponents out by not relying on the strikeout on Saturday afternoon. 

Both offences would do away with the perfect game and no hit bids by the pitchers in the first inning as Axemen 3B Steve Enright would hit an infield single in the top of the first only to be eliminated on a fielder's choice, while DH Kyle Lawrence would lead off the game for the Blackhawks with a seeing eye single up the middle. Lawrence's single would be the only hit that Martz would surrender through the first four innings of work and wouldn't allow another hit until a fifth inning single by Hawks CF Cody Jennings. Martz would have his outfield busy as the combination of LF Cal Zimmer and CF Jordan Riopel would record a total of seven outs through the first five innings of play, including a catch made by Zimmer as the two outfielders were both laying out to make a grab in the second inning. 

Last weekend the Axemen offence was able to put up a total of seven runs of support on the board for Martz before eventually losing the game 10-7, on Saturday afternoon the offence was held in check by P Regan Hoet. Hoet was coming off a strong performance against the NCABL's highest scoring team in the Stony Plain Mets during their semi-final series win last weekend and continued to be dominate against the NCABL's second highest scoring team in the Camrose Axemen. After surrending a single in the first inning, the only other hit the Axemen would generate off the New Zealand national men's baseball team member would be a deep fly ball off of the fence in right field by 1B Joe Pasychynk in the second inning. After the hard hit ball, Hoet would retire the next seven Axemen in a row and only a pair of walks and a hit batter worth of offence could the Axemen generate through six innings. 

While both pitchers were pitching well, it was the Axemen who would flinch first and the Blackhawks would capitalize in a big way putting up all five of their runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. DH Kyle Lawrence would collect his second hit of the game and the only the Blackhawks third of the afternoon to lead off the inning. 2B Justin Kock would square up a sacrifice bunt and push it to the right side of the mound, right where Martz was falling off at. Martz would turn and instead of throwing a strike to SS Chance Wheatley, who was preparing to go to first for a potential double play in what would have been a disaster for the Blackhawks, he would miss high and send the ball into centre field. Lawrence would speed around second and almost warrant a throw from CF Jordan Riopel but the veteran outfield would get the ball in quick to hold the force and Koch at first. 2014 NCABL MVP, SS Ryan Gregg, who the Axemen had held in check so far, put the Blackhawks on the board with a sacrifice fly to centre field to break the 0-0 game. From there the wheels started to fall off for Martz and the Axemen as clean up hitter 1B Kevin Stork would hit a single into right field to push Koch to third allowing Stork to steal second base standing up in the next at bat. C Sam Ewanishan would hit a comebacker to Martz who would alertly spin and check Koch diving back into third base before going to first for out number two. 

With two out and runners at second and third in a 1-0 ball game the Axemen bullpen of P Kyle Muzechka was ready to go with P Corey Epp warming up quickly as well. Martz would walk RF Kyle Martel to load the bases with two out before walking 3B Dustin Reschney to make it a 2-0 ball game. The back breaker for the Axemen came when CF Cody Jennings would pull a fly ball deep into the left field corner and just out of the reach of LF Cal Zimmer at the 320' mark for a stand up, bases clearing double to make it 5-0. Martz would walk number nine hitter LF David Schneider before giving way to P Corey Epp who would end the inning by getting DH Kyle Lawrence to ground out to first base. 

With now a five run deficit and a deflated Axemen dugout, they would muster as much offence as they could against Hoet in the top of the seventh trying the remarkable comeback. C John Kelndorfer would lead the inning off with a single ahead of 1B Joe Pasychynk working a walk from Hoet before giving way to PR Kris Kushnerick. PH Paul Ofrim would connect on a line drive single to load the bases with no one out. Hoet would get a double play ball off the bat of CF Jordan Riopel, allowing Kelndorfer to score and moving Kushnerick to third base for PH Brett Harke. The run would be the first given up by the Blackhawks in the 2014 NCABL Playoffs as they would go twenty defensive innings of shutout baseball against the Mets and the Axemen. After giving up his fourth walk of the game to Harke, Hoet would record his eleventh strikeout of the game against 3B Steve Enright to put the Blackhawks up in the series 1-0 with a 5-1 win in game one. 

It was another example of the Axemen offence being unable to muster enough against good pitching to come out with a victory, something that Axemen fans saw in both the 2012 NCABL Championship Final and the 2013 NCABL Semi-Finals, both series losses against the Westlock Red Lions. While their offence should be considered streaky, there have always been consistent play by a couple of bats in the lineup night in and night out. The Blackhawks Regan Hoet and the defense behind him, especially SS Ryan Gregg and RF Kyle Martel who both made a couple of nice plays to take hits away from the Axemen, were able to keep the Camrose offence from stringing anything together with runners on base. It was a great pitchers duel that the Axemen offence just couldn't be a factor in. 

 



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