Wildcats back in thick of NSSBL race after weekend wins

BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

The Kentville Wildcats are back in the thick of things in the Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League after sweeping a three-game, interprovincial weekend series at Memorial Park.

The Wildcats came back for a 7-6 win over Summerside on the afternoon of July 14, outlasted Chatham 24-16 that evening, then completed the sweep with an 8-2 victory over Moncton July 15.

After starting the season with five straight losses, the Wildcats, 3-12 as recently as June 23, improved to 10-13 following their seventh win in eight games.

“It's huge,” head coach Chris Salsman said. “We're right back in it. We set our goal, after the start we had, to aim for fourth place; now we're looking at third or, hopefully, even higher.”

July 14, the Wildcats staged an old-fashioned comeback against a stubborn Summerside squad to pull out a 7-6 win. Trailing 6-4 (at one time, they had trailed 4-0) entering the bottom of the ninth, the Wildcats scored three runs on three hits, a pair of walks, an error and a fielders’ choice to pull out the win.

Matt Lloy, called up from the Hantsport Shamrocks, pitched three-and-a-third innings of one-hit, shutout ball in relief of starter Kevin Daurie. Dan O'Shea allowed seven runs on 13 hits and took the loss.

Curtis Falls had a double and two singles and Ian Lockhart three singles for the 'Cats.

The evening game against Chatham was far from pretty, with the Wildcats finally prevailing by a football-like score.

Kentville scored six runs in the first inning and led 13-7 after four before putting the game away with an 11-run sixth. Chatham scored eight runs in the top of the seventh, but that would be the extent of the scoring for either team.

Mike Sponagle, pitching with two days' rest, and Lloy, making his second appearance of the day, were hit hard (Chatham scored 16 runs on 16 hits), but ended up the beneficiaries of a 21-hit Kentville offense, with Sponagle picking up his team-high fourth win.

Again, Falls, red-hot since returning from a groin injury, led the way with three singles and a double. Tyson Waye homered for Chatham in a losing effort.

July 15, Kevin Nichols threw a gem at a surprisingly-ineffective Moncton squad, allowing just four hits over seven innings of shutout pitching. Corey Kent finished the game, allowing Moncton two runs after two were out in the ninth inning.

Offensively, the Wildcats scored five times on six hits in the bottom of the first inning and cruised to their fourth win in a row to complete the weekend sweep.

Mike Lockhart had four RBIs on a single, double and sacrifice fly, and Ian Lockhart once again had three singles. Ian Mosher drove in two runs and Luke Smith and Les Berry one each as the Wildcats, for the fourth straight game, reached double figures in hits with 13.

Salsman agreed, “it's a great time to be playing this well.” After a brutal schedule to start the season, “everybody else's schedule is starting to catch up with them.

“We knew sooner or later we would start hitting, and it's become contagious. First nobody was hitting, and now everybody is hitting.”

He acknowledged “having Curtis (Falls) back in the middle of the lineup has really helped.”

At the same time, “we can't get complacent. You're only as good as your last win. We're getting a lot of home games (four of Kentville's remaining six games are at home), and our veterans are really stepping up.”

The Wildcats, scheduled to play a makeup game at home July 18 against Dartmouth, will next host Truro in a July 22 doubleheader at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.