TC LakersWith a solid defense behind him Jared Strait threw a seven inning shutout against a stout Newfield squad.  Strait had 14 strikeouts and allowed one walk and three hits.  With one putout and three assists he was involved in making 18 of the 21 outs in the game.  Ben Kutler put the Lakers on the board in the first inning scoring on an error.  Then Trevor Rumsey and Kutler scored in the fifth inning off Strait's 325 foot, 2 RBI double.  Matt Gonyea made two great catches out in Left Field to help the cause.  The final score, Lakers 3, Newfield 0.

Ithaca was next on the list.  Trevor Rumsey looked sharp on the bump on the way to his shutout.  He allowed only one hit, walked four and struck out 10 over four innings.  With an outstanding defense behind him, Zack Walker came in to close for the Lakers and continued the shut out.  He allowed one walk and had one K.  Hunter Ford hit a well-timed, two RBI, single in the second inning to put the Lakers on the board and Brandon Mikula stole home to tack on the final run.  The final score, Lakers 3, Ithaca 0.

The TC Lakers then went north to visit Moravia.  The Lakers offense opened up the game from the start.  They took 50 pitches from Moravia's ace with good, quality at bats.  Scoring three runs in the first inning, Mikula on a Kutler ground ball, Ford on a wild pitch and Strait stealing home.  With their ace pitcher out, Moravia didn't cower and run instead they made an intense comeback.

Four of their first five batters scored as Corbin Atkins struggled to locate the plate.  Knowing that everyone has a bad day once in a while and that baseball requires a team effort, the Laker coaches had Walker come in and help his teammate.  Walker utilized his defense and 10 k's to completely shut down any more rallies by Moravia.  Moravia's relief pitcher McElfresh took a bit to settle in and that spelled defeat for Moravia, as the TC Lakers grabbed the lead for good. More runners rounded the bases on a fielder's choice and an RBI single by Ben Kutler.  In the fifth, the Lakers scored on an RBI single by Hunter Sherwood, scoring Zack Ives.  The final score, Lakers 9, Moravia 4.

With a record of 7 wins and 3 losses, the Lakers are done preparing.  They are ready to head down to PA for a large ECTB showcase tournament this weekend.  The guys are looking to be scouted for colleges and -- who knows -- maybe the bigs.

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