Cardinals hold off Sarnia's late surge

     Recover from blown 5-0 lead, for a 7-6 win, in LDBA bantam playoffs 

By Rob J. Ross

Saturday, August 26, 2017

ST. THOMAS - After squandering a 5-0 lead, the St. Thomas Cardinals regrouped to edge the Sarnia Braves, 7-6, in the London and District Baseball Association (LDBA) Bantam playoffs, at Emslie Field.

(Visit LDBA bantam playoff schedule / results)

Sarnia took a 6-5 lead scoring three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings.

The Cardinals responded with a pair of runs in the home half of the sixth. Singles from Carter Neil, Body Bodkin and Tyler Lale, a Nathan Baughman base on balls and a sacrifice by Ben North, rescued the home team.

Pitcher Tanner Moir picked up the win, in relief of starter Carter Neil, who left with one out in the sixth inning.

St. Thomas scored twice in the first inning, thanks to singles by Baughman and Bodkin and a walk drawn by Devon Kellington.

The Cardinals bumped their lead to 5-0, in the fourth inning, with Nick Waite breaking it open, with a RBI triple, following back to back singles from Neil and North. Waite, who was two-for-three, with two RBI, scored on a Michael Johnson RBI single.

St. Thomas is 2-1, after opening the five team double knock-out tournament, with a 2-1 win, over Sarnia, and a 5-4 loss, to the London Tecumsehs.”

The Cardinals face the Exeter Express in a semi-final, with the winner playing the Tecumsehs, in an 1 p.m. final, on Sunday. Both games are at Emslie Field.