August 30, 2019

By Cavan Young

Ottawa Champions

OTTAWA – Phillippe Aumont struck out nine and Adron Chambers hit a solo home run as the Ottawa Champions opened their final series of the season against the Québec Capitales with a 2-1 win.

Nick DeTringo went 3-for-3 for his first professional three-hit game, extending his hit streak to four games in the process. Brian Portelli also extended his hit streak to a career-high nine games, going 2-for-3 with a walk.

“I’ve been trusting myself, trusting my hands and relying on my coaches and everybody else on the team, the vets especially,” said DeTringo. “Steve Brown and Adron (Chambers) have really been giving me good advice. I’ve just been sticking to the process and continue to work.”

Champions manager Sébastien Boucher praised DeTringo’s worked ethic and commitment to improving.

“DeTringo has been kind of hot the last week or so,” said Boucher. “He’s been putting together better at-bats and I think he’s getting a bit more comfortable with himself.”

DeTringo echoed a similar sentiment.

“I’ve always been confident in my defense, even with the mishaps I had when I got here,” said DeTringo. “Offensively, I’ve felt pretty comfortable the whole time but things just haven’t gone my way all the time.”

Aumont tossed his sixth complete game of the season for his final start of the year, walking one and allowing one earned run on six hits.

“It was good, I was in control all game,” said Aumont. “I started pulling off a bit in the ninth but I got through and finished the game.”

Boucher talked about how important Aumont has been to the Champions all season long.

“He obviously brings a lot of leadership and experience,” said Boucher, “but he also brings that grind that most guys need. He goes out and battles and grinds out. Even when he’s struggling he’ll still put up a good performance.”

Larry Balkwill broke a scoreless tie in the fifth when he scored from third on a wild pitch and Chambers’ first homer of the season in the sixth made it 2-0 Champions. The Capitales made it 2-1 in the ninth but couldn’t complete the comeback.

The two teams meet again at RCGT Park on Saturday at 7 p.m. for Game 2 of the four-game series. Jared Mortensen (Abbotsford, BC) gets the ball for Ottawa.