Islanders show no signs of rust
Charlottetown combines strong pitching, hitting, defence to defeat Saint John
The Charlottetown Gaudet’s Auto Body Islanders showed no signs of rust on July 28.
The Islanders, playing their first New Brunswick Senior Baseball League (NBSBL) game in two weeks, registered a solid 6-1 decision over the Saint John Alpines at Memorial Field. It marked the Islanders’ first game action since a doubleheader against the Fredericton Royals on July 14.
“I thought they bounced back pretty well,” Islanders head coach Doug Hines told Saltwire in a post-game interview. “A couple of guys had a chance to heal up (during the break), so everybody was fresh.
“It was a good effort allaround. We had good pitching, good defence, and we are swinging the bats generally better the last month or so. That’s probably what the key is for us right now.”
The first-place Islanders, who played error-free ball versus Saint John, improved to 14-8 and hold a one-game lead over Fredericton (139) in the five-team league’s standings.
The Islanders, who as defending NBSBL champions will represent New Brunswick at the Canadian senior baseball championship in Tecumseh, Ont., Aug. 22-25, have won six of their last seven games and have scored 61 runs during that stretch.
“We are playing well at the right time,” said Hines. “We have five or six games left (in the regular season) and want to go on a nice little run here and get ready for nationals.”
HOT BAT
Against Saint John, centrefielder Jack Kraft continued to produce offensively. Kraft, whose .417 batting average is third highest in the league, hit two doubles, drove in a run and drew two walks in four trips to the plate.
“Honestly, I’ve just been trying to slow my hands down and get the barrel to the ball,” said Kraft. “It’s been really helping me slow everything else down and control what I can control and just find barrel.
“If I hit it (hard) at someone, it is what it is, but I’ve been lucky as of late finding holes. I’m just going to keep that approach going forward.”
The Islanders jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Josh Myers led off with a single and Duncan Picketts followed with a run-scoring double to right-centre field. Jon Arsenault followed with a single to left field to plate Picketts.
After the Alpines cut the lead in half on Matt Dignam’s two-out RBI single in the top of the fourth, the Islanders answered with three runs in their half of the inning.
Arsenault led off with a double and would come around and score when Scott Harper reached first base on a fielder’s choice. Cole Maclaren scored Harper and Ryne Macisaac with a twoout, bases-loaded single to
5-1.nd make it
Pinch-hitter Tyler Taylor led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single and scored on Kraft’s two-out double.
Winning pitcher Brodie Mcdonald worked five innings of one-hit ball. Mcdonald allowed seven hits, two walks and struck out seven. Ethan Smith and Ben Macdougall each worked a scoreless inning in relief.
“We came out really hot,” said Kraft assessing the Islanders’ performance. “Brodie threw a heck of a game and it’s always nice when the bullpen can come in and shut (things) down.
“Our bats have caught fire as of late, and I’m hoping it can continue.”
Arsenault (2-3), Maclaren (1-2, two walks) and Harper (1-1) also led the Islanders offensively. All nine batters in the Islanders’ starting lineup reached base at least once.
“With nationals coming up, everybody is really locked in and working hard,” said Kraft. “We’ve been practising a lot, and I’m excited to see what the boys do at nationals.”