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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-06-01, Page 19THIS WEEK IN SPORTS Victoria Day Shoot. Page 19 Crediton Juniors start season. Page 20 TIMES ADVOCATE Ort SPORTS TIPS? Contact Exeter Times Advocate Tel: Pat Bolen (519) 235-1336 x113 Fax: (519) 235-0766 E-mail: sports@southhuron.com Express pound Listowel EXETER — The Exeter Express opened their sea- son May 20 with a tough loss against Strathroy by the score of 3-1. The Express had their chances to score but were able to push a run across only in the first inning on a double by Adam Leppington plus two groundouts. A big potential rally was ended on a triple play by Strathroy in the third inning. Finally, two runners were stranded in the sev- enth inning. Strathroy scored a run in the sixth with a walk fol- lowed by a double. They rallied for two more in the seventh on the basis of one walk, two well placed sacrifice bunts and a ball lost in the sun. Strathroy had two hits in the game with Exeter hav- ing four. Derek Masse pitched the first five innings allowing one hit and no runs. He struck out five batters and walked one. Newcomer Jeff Erskine looked good in his local debut pitching one and two thirds innings, allow- ing three runs. Two of the runs were unearned. Erskine gave up one hit, walked two batters and struck out two. Curtis Meyers retired the only batter he faced. Exeter hits came from the bats of Leppington, Rick Carroll, Vic Oliveira and Scott Smith. Exeter was in London to face the Bulls May 24 and came out on the short end of a 9-4 score. The Express scored one in the first and three in the eighth innings. Supplying the Exeter hits were Leppington and Dan Masse each with three and Oliveira and Nick Regier with two apiece. Marty Merner allowed five runs on 11 hits. He pitched six and two thirds innings. Leppington finished up allowing four runs on four hits. The two pitchers struck out five and walked three. The Brills scored three in the second, one in the fifth, one in the seventh and four in the eighth. Against Listowel the Express scored one run each in the first four innings, two more in the sixth, and five in the sev- enth on the way to an 11-2 win. The best hitters were Regier with two including a homerun, Bobby Grant with three hits, and Cory Burtch with two, with 11 Express hits in total. Dan Masse pitched the first six innings allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out five and walked five to pick up the win. Meyer shut Listowel down over the last three innings allowing four hits and no runs. He struck out three bat- ters and walked one. The Express record is now one win and two loss- es. Their next action is at the Tillsonburg tourna- ment this weekend. Juniors ready for home opener EXETER — The Exeter Juniors opened their regular season with a convincing win over Strathroy last week, improving their record to 4-0 early in the season. Exeter 13, Strathroy 7 Offence was the story in this one, as Exeter belted out 15 hits, four of them doubles. "The bats were on today," commented head coach Mike Seip. "The guys were seeing the ball well and playing for hits. You can win a lot of games that way." The fifth inning was the end for Strathroy when Tim Meidinger led off with a double and scored when Justin Hayter hit another double. Jon Brand hit the third double of the game, scoring Shawn Morgan, Ricky Regier and Mitch Iredale, who had all been on base with singles. Exeter scored seven runs in that inning to put the game in the bag for pitchers Meidinger and Terry Hogg. Matt Iredale also had a double for the Juniors, contributing to Exeter's offensive drive. Pitching and defence impressed once again, where Hogg and Meidinger showed what potential the Juniors have this season. Combined, they allowed seven hits, walked three and had 11 strikeouts. Exeter's defence was strong as well, committing no errors throughout the con- test. Exeter 12 at Port Dover 12 The Juniors had the longest road trip of the season Sunday when they travelled to Port Dover for an afternoon contest. Exeter's offense once again got the game started in favour of the visitors, with Laye leading the attack with five hits, two of them doubles. With Meidinger and Morgan reaching base on walks, Mark Laye belted a dou- ble out to left field, making the score 2-0 early in the game. The third inning was also productive for the Juniors, where they scored six runs on four hits and two walks. Meidinger and Dave Gingerich both had doubles that inning scoring Laye, Matt Iredale, and Hogg who had all reached base with singles of their own. Matt Johns also scored that inning, after reaching first with a walk. "The bats are really coming alive," commented Seip. "Laye had a fantastic game, going five for five with two doubles -he was on fire. Everyone was hitting the ball hard. It is nice to see that part of the game starting to click." Meidinger started the game for Exeter, throwing well through three innings, allowing just two runs on two hits and striking out three. Hogg pitched the next three innings and started out well, allowing two runs in the fourth on two hits. Port Dover started clawing away at Exeter's 8-2 lead though. With the score 10-4, Port Dover started to get to Hogg. They scored three runs on four hits, three doubles and a single, in the bottom of the sixth to close the gap to 10-7. Exeter gave itself some breathing room in the top of the seventh with two runs on hits by Morgan, Laye and Seip. However what is usually the strong aspect of the Juniors, turned out to be their downfall this day. With a five -run lead and two outs, Exeter's defence fell apart. Port Dover scored five runs to tie up the game on just two hits and three errors. That is how the game ended, a 12-12 tie. "It was terrible", said Seip. We had it in the bag, then we lost it. "For a team known for their strong defence, we really blew it today. However, these things happen from time - to -time. We need to get back out there and put it behind us." The Juniors look to improve even fur- ther on the season, when they have their home opener Thursday night, under the lights at Alvin Willert Field at 8 p.m. vs. Komoka. Ralph Simons lets a shot go May 24 at the Exeter Rec Centre during the carpet bowling competition of the Ontario Senior Games.The Grand Cove team of Simons and George Bowles defeated Stratford to win the tournament, which had 16 teams take part. (photo/ Pat Bolen) Zurich Peewee Girls win opener ZURICH — The Zurich Peewee girls Melanie Hunt, Katelyn Schade, Danielle won their season opener, 23-9, against Datars, Jaemi Douglas and Courtney Listowel 2 May 18 at home. Campbell. After a shaky start with nine unearned Zurich ran the bases testing the opposi- runs in the first two innings, the defence tions throwing abilities. stepped up behind the pitching staff to Jessica Geoffrey started the game for make the outs. Zurich on the mound spelled off by Zurich bats rallied each inning to bring Rebecca Skinner and finished her. home the win. Jaemi Douglas closed the game with Rebecca Skinner and Kelsey Oke led the Zurich showing their defensive skills. offense scoring three runs each with two The team is playing in the Huron -Perth solid hits apiece. Softball league and has an 18 game Also notching hits and scoring runs schedule this season. were Jessica Geoffery, Jenna Beierling, McCallum Bourne beats a throw into third base taken by Mitchell Webster for the junior rookies May 27 at Tim Bit field. (photo/ Pat Bolen)