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Athletics struggle to get on the plus side

July 12, 2013   ·   0 Comments

If they played the fist two innings like they did in the final two, the Alliston Athletics might have tipped the game in their favour Tuesday night against the Orillia Minors at Riverdale Park in Alliston.

It wasn’t until the sixth inning that the squad started to get on base and they didn’t score until the seventh.

The Athletics stopped the shut-out out when Dave Blanch hit to deep left field to advance a runner to third base.

Dalton Iddison got the hit that drove in Mac Sealy to score Alliston’s first run of the night.

Coming back in the bottom of the final inning the Athletics got base runs that loaded the diamond.

The final out came on a called strike that ended the game – much to the dismay of the batter who was not pleased about where in the strike zone the call was made.

“The bottom of the second really killed us when we tried to squeeze that run in on the single. We squandered a good single and got the out at home,” said Athletics coach Colin Iddison. “I think that was the big turning point.”

The Minors were leading 7–0 at the end of the fourth inning when they hit a double to bring in a run then followed with another hit to left field that drove in another.

Alliton pitcher Zach Riddell ended the inning by striking out the final Orillia batter.

The pressure was on the Athletics but the fifth inning turned up nothing when they went three up and three down during their at-bat.

“We didn’t do a lot of changes. We made some small adjustments,” Iddison said of the Athletics strategy on the field.

At mid season Iddison said the team can still move ahead in the standings.

“They’re starting to understand the importance of concentration throughout the whole game. They’re struggling through the fact that they used to win all the time and now they’re taking a few losses.”

The Athletics have a couple of road games in Creemore and Barrie.

They are back in Alliston at Riverdale Park on Thursday, July 11, to host the Innisfil Cardinals.

The first pitch is slated for 6 p.m.

By Brian Lockhart

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