Tomcats hold on to defeat Red Army

   Four run first inning leads St. Thomas to 6-5 win over Ilderton in the SSBL

Friday, July 13, 2018

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS -  The St. Thomas Tomcats had to hang on for the win, but the Junior baseball club now sits two games above .500 for the first time this season.

A 6-5 win over the Ilderton Red Army, at Emslie Field, improves the Tomcats to 7-5, in the SouthWestern Senior Baseball League.

The Tomcats are three and games behind the first place Strathroy Royals (10-1).

The Tomcats exploded for four runs in the first inning and were leading 6-2 heading into the ninth inning. Ilderton pulled to within a run, using a pair of RBI singles, two walks and a wild pitch.

"It was a good game. We pitched well and Adam Paish pitched well for them," Tomcats manager Bob Lofgren said. "There were some bad hops for them and we took advantage with some timely hits and put up four in the first inning. We liked how our guys battled with two strikes and put the ball in the play. That's what we need to do."

Zack Banks and Austin Holland split pitching duties for the Tomcats.

"Austin did an awesome job. He threw four innings and that's the most he has thrown this year," said Lofgren. "Tyler D'Alessandro was our star. He had three great catches in centre field and had a triple. He almost hit one out in his last at bat. Rhett Roney had a good night hitting and third baseman Alex Lamont had two hits and a RBI."

The Tomcats threw an Ilderton base runner out at the plate, on a rely started by D'Alessandro.

Both teams had absent players.

"They (Ilderton) had a make shift line-up. They won the Lakeside tournament last weekend and had some guys hurt," said Lofgren. "I was missing three guys from our starting line-up."

The Tomcats travel to Strathroy on Sunday, before hosting Exeter (5-7), Friday, July 20 and the Sarnia Braves (6-3) for two games, on Saturday, July 21.

St. Thomas hosts the  21U Nationals, August 15-19, at both Emslie and Cardinal fields.