Red Sox Take Three of Four in Week VI

By Dan Estey

Canadian Baseball Network

The Milton Red Sox had a busy week playing four games in all. As busy as they were they were, they were also very successful collecting three wins. 

The Red Sox started the week with a trip down the QEW to take on the Niagara Metros. This was a quick and tidy game as both teams had their pitching and defence on cue in this one. Milton got a run in the first inning and there was not much happening after that until the fifth when Niagara was able to get two unearned runs off Red Sox starter Chris Cloes to surge ahead 2-1. After that, the pitching and defense took over for both teams. Dan Todoschuk came in relief of Cloes in the sixth giving up only two hits and two walks while striking out two Metros batters in his three innings of work. The Niagara pitching staff did their thing too though shutting down the Milton bats over the last four innings to preserve the 2-1 victory. 

Dan Apostoli was 2-for-4 with two singles while Orion Katayama was 2-for-4 with a double and a single. Matt Lahn and Kevin Greer both had singles to round out the Milton offense. Cloes started and took the hard luck loss for Milton going five innings allowing two runs -- both unearned -- on seven hits in five innings of work. He walked two batters while striking out three. 

Tuesday Milton was scheduled to play against Mississauga Southwest but that game was rained out. With some luck though, Mike Smith and the Twins were able to lock down their field on Thursday and re-schedule the game quickly. Like Monday night, the Sox got a single run in the first to take a quick 1-0 lead. This time though they made it stand as they added another four runs in the sixth and a single run in the seventh to win this one by a score of 6-0. 

The story in this game was veteran starter Ian Zettle who moved through a tough Mississauga SW lineup. He tossed eight scoreless allowing only six hits. He walked two batters while striking out two in taking the win. What’s even more impressive for Zettle is he now has a 14 inning scoreless inning streak going right now. Newcomer Javeed Baksh threw the ninth inning allowing only a hit and a walk to close out the game. Billy Hurley took the loss for the Twins allowing five runs -- four earned -- on six hits. He walked one Milton batter while striking out seven. 

Offensively, COBA Player of the Week Lahn led the way going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Katayama was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI while Greer was 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and  two RBI. James Bruce also had two hits and a runs scored while Apostoli, Riaz Baksh and Brendan Power all had hits to round out the Milton 12-hit attack. Mike Cardinale and Jamie Smith were both 2-for-5 in a losing cause for Mississauga. 

The Red Sox were now off until Saturday when they played against the Oakville A’s in a double header. Even though the games were played at the Milton Sports Complex, Oakville was the home team based on the fact Oakville Park is shut down for this season. The Sox held nothing back in these two games as they won both games by scores of 12-2 and 21-3. Milton was able to get up early in both games and not look back has they hit the ball around the park at will off a short handed A’s squad. 

New addition Jason Schneider started Game 1 and got the win tossing four innings and allowing one run on one hit. He walked two while striking out five Oakville batters. Javeed Baksh and Brett Cameron both saw time on the mound as well in this one shutting down the A’s offense. Offensively, Greer was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Bruce was also 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Kevin Cooper was 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk and four RBI while Lahn and Steve Lauzon both had a hit while collecting an RBI and scoring a run. 

In Game 2, Evan Cruikshank was the beneficiary of all the offense in collecting the win for Milton. He scattered four hits over four innings allowing only one run. Todoschuk threw the last inning giving up two runs on two hits. At the plate, Lahn was 4-for-5 with a double and a triple and five RBI while Brett Medland was 4-for-4 with three runs and three RBI. Bruce was 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Nick Feren was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI while Don Smith was 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. 

COBA Major D-Ville Bats Player of the Week (June 4-10) is 1B/DH Matt Lahn of the Milton Red Sox.

Lahn played in four games during this week helping lead the Red Sox to a 3-1 record. On Monday, Milton dropped a tough 2-1 game on the road in Niagara before winning three straight games including a 6-0 win at Mississauga and a sweep of the Oakville A’s by scores of 21-3 and 12-2. For his week, he was 9-for-14 (.641) with four singles, four doubles and a triple. He scored four runs while collecting seven RBI. He also walked twice while as well.

For his season, Lahn is now hitting .528 (19-for-36) with six doubles, a triple and a home run. He has walked six times while scoring 10 runs and collecting 18 RBI.

Hononable Mention
Daniel Murphy (Etobicoke Rangers)
4 Games, .500 Avg., 16 AB, 8 Hits, 6 Singles, 1 Triple, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 RBI, 4 Runs, 1 SB

Jay Woodford (Erindale Cardinals)
2 Games, .500 Avg, 8 AB, 4 Hits, 3 Singles, 1 Double, 2 BB, 3 RBI, 3 Runs.

The COBA Major Lazer Pro Pitcher of the Week is RHP Ian Zettle of the Milton Red Sox.

Zettle, who won this award last week as well, had one appearance this week leading the Red Sox to a 6-0 victory over the Mississauga SW Twins at Clarkson Park. In this game, he tossed eight scoreless while allowing six hits. He walked two batters while striking out four in collecting the win.

For his year, Zettle now sits at 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has allowed four runs (two earned) on 21 hits. He has walked only two batters and struck out six in 24 innings of work this season. He is currently riding a 14-inning shutout streak.

Hononable Mention
Adam McBride (Etobicoke Rangers)
1 Game, 1 Win, 0 Losses, 0 Save, 5 Innings, 1 Hit, 1 Run, 1 Earned Run1, 1.80 ERA, 2 BB, 4 K

Jordan Petruska (Mississauga SW Twins)
1 Game, 1 Win, 0 Losses, 0 Save, 5 Innings, 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Earned Runs, 0.00 ERA, 0 BB, 3 K.

Linescores
Sunday, June 4th
Greg Cranker Field – 5 Inn R   H   E
Burlington Brants 12 10 1
Oakville A’s 1 5 2
Winning Pitcher – Jordan Rienzo. Losing Pitcher – Blake Donaldson

Burlington Brants vs. Oakville A’s -- PPD Rain

Monday
Greg Crannker Field R   H   E
Etobicoke Rangers 12 19 7
Erindale Cardinals 13 13 5
Winning Pitcher – Dan Nauth. Losing Pitcher – Brent Cleland
Save – Dan Estey
HR – AJ Iafrate + Daniel Murphy (Etob.); Kevin Alp + John Amendola (Erin.)

George Taylor Field R   H   E
Milton Red Sox 1 6 2
Niagara Metros 2 7 1
Winning Pitcher – Dylan Perego, Losing Pitcher – Chris Cloes
Save – Andrew Cartaginese

Tuesday
Milton Red Sox vs. Mississauga SW Twins -- PPD rain 

Wednesday
Nelson Park R   H   E
Erindale Cardinals 7 11  0
Burlington Brants 9 10 0
Winning Pitcher – Evan Krychowski, Losing Pitcher – Dan Estey
HR – Jay Woodford (2) (Erin.); Tim Sogan (2) (Burl.)

Thursday
Dave Dash Memorial Field – (10 Inn) R   H   E
Oakville A’s 8 8 1
Brampton Royals 8 12 5

Clarkson Park R   H   E
Milton Red Sox 6 12 0
Mississauga SW Twins 0 7 0
Winning Pitcher – Ian Zettle, Losing Pitcher – Kyle Porter

Friday
Connorvale Park – (10 Inn) R   H   E
Niagara Metros 6 9 5
Etobicoke Rangers 7 7 2
Winning Pitcher – Adam McBride, Losing Pitcher – Nick Submaraniam

Saturday
Connorvale Park R   H   E
Mississauga SW Twins 3 6 2
Etobicoke Rangers 0 3 1
Winning Pitcher – Jordan Petruska, Losing Pitcher – Brendan Lyons
Save – Tomas Rincon

Milton Sports Complex – (6 Inn) R   H   E
Milton Red Sox 12 7 0
Oakville A’s 1 1 3
Winning Pitcher – Jason Schneider, Losing Pitcher – Mitchell Ewing
HR – Kevin Cooper (Milt.)

Connorvale Park R   H   E
Mississauga SW Twins 4 6 4
Etobicoke Rangers 5 8 2
Winning Pitcher – Brent Cleland, Losing Pitcher – James Byrnes
Save – Kyle Angelow

Milton Sports Complex – (5 Inn) R   H   E
Milton Red Sox 21 19 4
Oakville A’s 3 6 5
Winning Pitcher – Evan Cruikshank Losing Pitcher – Nick Boyd
HR – Don Smith, Kevin Greer (Milt.)