Garcia, Lucas shut down Braves, Gatemen win 13-1
July 5, 2018 8:26 pm | by Andrew Lang
Garcia, Lucas shut down Braves, Gatemen win 13-1
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BOURNE – The fourth of July may have past, but the Gatemen kept the fireworks going today. Wareham took advantage of their scoring chances and some shaky Bourne defense to route the Braves 13-1.
The Gatemen scored in the first five innings of the ballgame and had their second straight double digit hit night as a club. As for the Braves, they made three errors and really gave the Gatemen plenty of opportunities to score.
“We got good offense, good defense and good pitching,” Don Sneddon said. “You can’t ask for much than that.”
The Braves poor defense started on the very first batter of the game when Jeremy Ydens lifted a line drive to left field. Bourne left fielder Oscar Serratos misjudged the hit and it went over his head and it rolled to the wall. Ydens coasted into third with a standup triple. Pavin Parks was the next Gatemen hitter and he grounded out to second to drive in the first run of the day for Wareham.
In the top of the second, the bottom of the Gatemen order put the pressure on Bourne starter Bryan Hoeing. Ryan Kreidler, hitting seventh, worked a one out walk to start the rally. Isaac Collins and Skyler Hunter then had back-to-back singles and Wareham pushed ahead 2-1.
Ryan Kreidler’s nifty slide put Wareham ahead 2-1 and they would not look back (via Caroline O’Connor).
“We got some help from the bottom. I’m glad to see Hunter get a few knocks in there, and of course Collins had a great night at the plate. That just helps the top of the lineup drive them in,” Sneddon said. “And that’s without our best little fireplug hitter Valenzuela not in the lineup.”
Collins was in the midst of a fantastic evening as the Gatemen right fielder recorded three hits, scored two runs, and stole a base. His average raised to .303 after coming in at .250.
“I’m going up there with more confidence,” Collins said. “I’m just more comfortable at the plate, getting more at bats. I am realizing that I belong here and I’m just as good as everyone else.”
Over the past five games, the natural second baseman has seen time in the outfield as the Gatemen try and find more production out there.
“It’s been fun actually. I’ve played a very small amount in the outfield last summer. Growing up I was always an infielder and at school I played every single game at second base. Whatever gets me on the field,” Collins said.
With runners on second and third, Ydens was back up again looking to do more damage. On a 2-2 count, Ydens chased a breaking ball in the dirt, but reached safely on an error by the Bourne catcher Lyle Lin. His throw sailed over first base and two runs came in to score as Ydens reached third standing up.
“When their catcher made a miscue with the throw there, it gave us a shot in the arm. It allowed us to play more freely,” Sneddon said.
The Gatemen tacked on their next run in the top of the third when Kreidler grounded into a double play to make it 5-1.
The following inning, Lael Lockhart was up with runners on first and second and two outs. The poor Braves defense was back at it again when Lockhart flailed a ball towards the first base bag. The ball took a weird hope and skipped under the glove of Bourne first baseman Spencer Horwitz.
Two runners came into score and Lockhart reached third on a standup triple on a ball that barely left the infield. The RBI triple for Lockhart made the Wareham lead 7-1.
Hoeing’s day ended in the fourth as he lasted just 3.1 innings surrendering seven runs (five earned) on four walks and seven hits.
In the fifth, Ydens recorded his second hit of the day which drove in a run and Parks ripped an RBI double to bring in his second of the day. Parks would finish the day 2-4 with three RBIs and a walk.
Ryan Garcia was the Gatemen starter tonight and he had a spectacular outing. Garcia allowed just one run over five innings of work as he picked up his first win of the season. He threw 79 pitches (54 strikes) struck out four, walked one, and allowed four hits.
“Garcia didn’t have his great curveball, but he used his slider. That’s the thing with pitchers like him. He made an adjustment,” Sneddon said. “I still think there’s more in that tank, but I sure like that outing out of him. He can be even more dominating.”
After a scoreless sixth inning, Wareham put three more runs on the board when Parks recorded his third and final RBI of the game off a double, and Austin Shenton singled to plate his first run of the day.
Wareham added one final run to their total, when Shenton hit a solo shot in the ninth to put an exclamation point on the night and push the Gatemen run total to a baker’s dozen.
Easton Lucas entered in relief of Garcia and was just as effective as the starter. Lucas did not allow a run over his four innings of work and allowed just one hit. Despite the double digit margin of victory, Lucas recorded the save since he pitched at least three innings and closed out the game.
“That was by far his best performance. Just awesome I hope we have some more like that,” Sneddon said. “He got the breaking ball over and his changeup to. It was a great job.”
Final: Gatemen 13, Braves 1
Next up: The Gatemen (14-8) head down to Brewster tomorrow to play the Whitecaps (4-16-2) Friday night. First pitch at 5:00 p.m. at Stony Brook in Brewster.
