By Dan Estey
Canadian Baseball Network
This past week was a busy one for the Mississauga Southwest Twins as they had four league games packed into three days. They ended up going 3-1 on the week. A breakdown of all of the games they played. 

On Monday, the Twins made the short trek to Greg Cranker Field to take on the Erindale Cardinals on a night where anything not pinned down to the ground ended up in corn field past the left field fence. As genial skipper Greg Cranker observed “We have the old Bugs Bunny wind going tonight.”

SW struck early in this one as C John Broll cashed in the first of many runs on this night with a fly ball to right field. Erindale answered back in their half of the second inning against Twins starter Billy Hurley as they put up four runs on a Frank Coccia RBI single and a three-run homer by Greg Dodwell. Not phased Mississauga answered back next inning when COBA Major Player of the Week Jerome Smith clubbed a solo homer to cut the lead to 4-2. The Cardinals got that back in the bottom of the third when Jay Woodford clubbed his third round tripper of the year, a solo job, to increase their lead to 5-2. The Twins bats woke up over the next three innings as they put up eight runs over those innings to build a 10-5 lead. Jerome Smith again was the catalyst with an RBI single in a big four-run sixth inning. Erindale came right back though putting up four runs of their own in the sixth. The big swing was a bases clearing double by Woodford to cut the lead to 10-9. The Twins managed to tack on four more in the late innings and won by a score of 14-10. Hurley picked up the win while Adam Banski, throwing three innings on relief grabbed the save. 

On Tuesday, The Twins hosted the Brampton Royals at Clarkson Park. The Twins used a very balanced attack in this one as they we able to win this one by a score of 9-0. Mississauga was able to put up 3 runs in each of the third, fourth, and sixth innings to put this one away early. Twins hurler Tomas Rincon was in complete control as he went six innings scattering three hits and striking out four to earn the win on the hill. Kyle Porter followed him up with three innings of solid, scoreless relief to earn the save. 1B Brendan Emmett had a big night at the dish going 3-for-5 missing out on the cycle by just a homer. He also scored three times while collecting an RBI as well. Smith was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored while OF Chris Piccini was 2-for-5 with 2 runs scored. 

On Wednesday, the Twins traveled to Oakville to take on the A’s in a rare week day double header. Each team would have a home game in the twinbill as both games were make-up games from previous rain outs. In Game 1, the Twins struck early and often as they put up three runs in both the first and second innings on route to a 9-0 victory. COBA Pitcher of the Week runner-up Jordan Petruska was in the zone on this night as he went six scoreless allowing only two Oakville hits and striking out five. Smith continued his hot week going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a runs scored while C. Piccini was 3-for-4 with an RBI, 3 runs scored, and a walk. Michael Cardinale was 2-for-5 with 3 runs scored and a big solo homer. 

In game two, SW jumped out to a big lead only to have Oakville chip away throughout the game and widdle the lead away from Mississauga. the Twins put up six runs in the first three innings but the pesky Oakville offense woke up in this game as they put up 5 runs of their own and Misissauga led 6-5 after three innings. Paul McKenna drew the start for the Twins in this one and he went four innings allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits with two strikeouts. Oakville was able to add four more runs off of Twins reliever Eric Ventura as the A’s held on for a slim 9-8 victory. Curtis Braun was the winner for Oakville while Ventura took the loss. Smith was 2-for-3 with a triple, walk, and an RBI. World traveller Cardinale, who competed in the International Ball Hockey Federation Worlds, was 2 for 4 with another homer, and RBI and a run and Matthew Piccini was 1-for-3 with a 2-run double. 

Player of the Week for Week 8 _ 1B/OF Jerome Smith of the Mississauga SW Twins.
Smith played in four games during this busy period for the Twins. They were 3-1 defeating Erindale (14-10), Brampton (9-0) and then split a DH with Oakville winning 9-0 before losing the night cap 8-7. For his week, he was 12 for 16 (.750) with nine singles, two doubles, and a home run. He scored secored runs while collecting five RBIs. He also walked twice and was hit by a pitch twice for an immpressive OBP of .800 for the week.

Smith is now hitting a scorching .474 (18 for 38) for his season with two triples and a home run. He has scored 16 runs and has also collected 11 RBIs thus far.

Hononable Mention
Greg Dodwell (Erindale Cardinals)
2 Games, .571 Avg, 7 AB, 4 Hits, 2 Singles, 1 Double, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 Runs, 1 Walk

Patrick Pinlac (Brampton Royals)
2 Games, .667 Avg, 9 AB, 6 Hits, 2 Singles, 2 Doubles, 1 Triple, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 Runs
*Hit for the cycle against Erindale this week*

The COBA Major League Pitcher of the Week: RHP Liam Tennant of the Milton Red Sox.
Tennant had one appearance this week on the road as he led the Red Sox to an impressive 3-0 win over the Niagara Metros. In this game, he went 7 2/3 innings allowing no runs while allowing only three hits. He walked two batters while striking out three in collecting the win.

Tennant now sits at 1-1 on the season with a 3.41 ERA. In his 29 innings of work, he has allowed 12 runs (11 earned) on 24 hits while collecting 19 strikeouts and 10 walks. Congratulations to Liam Tennant; the Week 8 COBA Major League Pitcher of the Week.

Hononable Mention
Dylan Perego (Niagara Metros)
1 Game, 1 Win, 0 Losses, 8 Innings, 5 Hits, 1 Runs, 1 Earned Run, 1.13 ERA, 1 Walk, 6 Ks

Jordan Petruska (Mississauga SW Twins)
1 Game, 1 Win, 0 Losses, 6 Innings, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Earned Runs, 0.00 ERA, 2 Walks, 5 Ks

Linescores
Monday, June 20th
Erindale Cardinal Field   R   H   E
Mississauga SW Twins    14    14    2
Erindale Cardinals    10    15    5
Winning Pitcher – Billy Hurley. Losing Pitcher – Chris Currie
HR – Jerome Smith (Mississauga SW); Greg Dodwell + Jay Woodford (Erindale)

Oakville Park   R   H   E
Burlington Brants    8    9    1
Oakville A’s    9    14    1
Winning Pitcher – Gord RobertsonLosing Pitcher – Evan Krychowski
HR – Alex Kupchak (Oakville)

Tuesday
Clarkson Park   R   H   E
Brampton Royals    0    5    4
Mississauga SW Twins    9    13    1
Winning Pitcher – Tomas Rincon. Losing Pitcher – Mike Burke

Wednesday
Oakville Park
Game 1   R   H   E
Oakville A’s    0    2    5
Mississauga SW Twins    9    17    0
Winning Pitcher – Jordan Petruska. Losing Pitcher – Matt Reagan
HR – Mike Cardinale (Mississauga SW)

Game 2   R   H   E
Mississauga SW Twins    7    9    1
Oakville A’s    8    10    0
Winning Pitcher – Curtis Braun. Losing Pitcher – Eric Ventura

Nelson Park   R   H   E
Niagara Metros    14    13    1
Burlington Brants    1    8    3
Winning Pitcher – Dylan Perego. Losing Pitcher – Atasushi Urata
HR – Jono Marchetere (Niagara)

Milton Sports Complex   R   H   E
Etobicoke Rangers    4    10    1
Milton Red Sox    2    8    5
Winning Pitcher – Andrew Perryman. Losing Pitcher – Ian Zettle. Save – Kyle Breitner

Thursday
Dave Dash Memorial Field R   H   E
Erindale Cardinals    10    14    1
Brampton Royals    10    12    1
HR – Chris Novia (Erindale); Patrick Pinlac (Brampton)

George Taylor Field R   H   E
Milton Red Sox    3    10    0
Niagara Metros    0    5    3
Winning Pitcher – Liam Tennant. Losing Pitcher – Justin Ayles
Save – Damian Clarke

Friday
Connorvale Park R   H   E
Oakville A’s    0    7    3
Etobicoke Rangers    9    17    0
Winning Pitcher – Adam McBride. Losing Pitcher – Alex Hawley

Saturday
Milton Sports Complex R   H   E
Oakville A’s    4    10    0
Milton Red Sox    7    8    0
Winning Pitcher – Justin Volpato
Losing Pitcher – Marc Walton