Archive: Sports

The Tompkins County Lakers may have gotten a late start on the season but they jumped off to an early lead in their first game and never looked back.  It was Walker versus Walker on the bump.  Each lefty pitcher throwing hard strikes.  The difference was three big Moravia errors and aggressive Lakers base running that placed the momentum in the Lakers dugout.  Zack Walker (Lakers) relied on strikeouts and a solid, error free defense having his back.

The speedy Jared Strait made it to first base on a dropped third strike that he never gave up on.  He then stole second which set him up to score on a well hit double by Conner Siracusa.  A disciplined at bat by Patrick Judd earned him a walk.  A couple of errors allowed Siracusa and Judd to score off of hard hits by Jesse Richardson and Corbin Atkins.  Zach Sherwood put the bat on the ball and scored Richardson from third on a fielder's choice.  This put the Lakers up by four at the end of the first inning.

The second, third and fourth innings were controlled by the pitching and even though the Lakers knocked at the door they couldn't cross home plate.  The score still at 4-0 heading into the fifth inning.

Ben Kutler ended Moravia's half of the inning on a web gem style double play, fielding the ball near second base, touching the bag and throwing the runner out at first.  Kutler then earned a base on balls and took second on a passed ball.  With the power of Siracusa up, the Lakers hoped to catch the Moravia defense off guard by having him bunt.  Siracusa laid down a nice sacrifice bunt that he almost beat out.  This moved Kutler to third and in position to score easily when the lefty batting Judd went "oppo", crushing a double down the third base line.

The Lakers tacked on seven more runs with an explosion in the sixth inning on a few errors, an RBI single by Jack English, another error, an RBI single by Siracusa, and a two-run double by Judd.  Lansing Miller, Kutler, Atkins, Zach Kemp, Sherwood and English all crossed the plate.

Judd lead the offense for the Lakers with two walks, four quality at bats, and racking up three RBIs on two hits for Lakers.  Siracusa was close behind him with two hits, two RBI and 3 quality at bats.  The Lakers got the win thanks in large part to Zack Walker's dominant, six-strikeout performance.  Lakers' pitcher had nine first pitch strikes and gave up just three hits over five shutout innings.

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