Abby falls to Athletics, Tomahawk at home
The Abbotsford Merchants suffered losses in both of their contests over the past week, falling to Augusta 18-8 and Tomahawk 10-3.
Tomahawk, 10-3
Abbotsford invited the Tomahawk Titans into town this past Sunday for their second league game of the season. The visitors came away with the victory, downing the Merchants 10-3.
The Titans consistently put pressure on Abbotsford, scoring runs in each of the game’s first five innings and collecting 15 hits in the match-up. After notching five runs over the first four innings, Tomahawk nearly doubled their total in the fifth, blowing open the game by taking a 9-0 lead.
Meanwhile the Merchants could not muster any similar success during their at-bats. The home team was held to just six hits over the duration of the contest and their first run did not come across the plate until the bottom of the seventh, when Aaron Morrow scored on a wild pitch. Nick Olvera knocked in two more runs in the bottom of the ninth with a single up the middle of the infield, but the rally would end shortly thereafter.
Morrow started on the mound for Abbotsford, going four-and-two-thirds innings, striking out four and walking six. Nine runs were recorded on the Merchant’s starter, with seven of those being earned. Mateo Lopez entered the game in the fifth inning and pitched the rest of the game. He surrendered one run on five hits while walking two and striking out four.
Olvera and Blake Bargender both went 2-for-4, with Olvera picking up the team’s only RBIs and Bargender scoring a run. Trevor Stuttgen and Harley Schmelzer both picked up a hit and Chance Clement drew three walks.
Augusta, 18-8
The Merchants also took on the Augusta Athletics for the second time this season, facing them at home last Wednesday. Despite outhitting the visitors for the second time this season, Abbotsford could not match their opponents down the stretch and lost in the non-league match-up, 18-8.
The hometown Merchants managed to keep pace with Augusta through the early portions of the game, with starting pitcher Hunter Soyk managing to keep the Athletics’ lineup in check. Defensive errors by Abbotsford, however, allowed Augusta to take some early advantages. In the top of the first, two mishaps would lead to the visitors taking a 1-0 lead, despite not getting a hit nor a walk in the inning.
Abbotsford immediately responded, tying the game in the bottom half of the frame. Shortstop JV Castillo worked a walk to start the inning and was moved over to third following a stolen base and a single by Soyk. A double steal got Castillo home, as Augusta opted to throw down to second to get Soyk, which allowed the speedy shortstop to score.
Augusta struck again in the fourth, putting up three runs on Soyk to retake their lead. Once again, defensive miscues kept the Athletics alive in the inning, as only one of those runs were earned.
Just as they had in the first inning, the Merchants found an answer to Augusta’s offensive efforts with a solid showing from their lineup in the following half inning. Neal Hogden got the home team started with a single up the middle of the infield. A hit and a walk from Castillo and Soyk would load the bases and Trevor Stuttgen drew a walk to bring in the first run of the inning for Abbotsford. First baseman Payton Schreiber drove in two more on a single to the outfield in the next at-bat, tying the game, and Blake Bargender followed it up with a single of his own to give Abbotsford a 5-4 advantage.
The four-run inning was the biggest of the evening for the Merchants, and while the game had momentarily shifted in their favor, walks and hit batsmen would begin to hurt the home team. The Athletics outscored Abbotsford 13-3 over the final three innings of the game, with the Merchants combination of Stuttgen, Marco Olvera, and Ross Elmhorst in relief on the mound unable to put a stop to them. In that time, Augusta only notched four hits, but the nine walks, five HBPs and a handful of errors surrendered by Abbotsford were enough to push the advantage to the visiting squad.
Schreiber finished the day as the Merchants chief source of offense. The first baseman went 2-for-3 from the plate, driving in four runs and scoring one himself. Castillo, Hogden, and Evan Reis each had one hit and two runs scored and Bargender, Soyk and Stuttgen all had one RBI. The sole extra base of the evening came off the bat of the Merchants’ Brett Nelson.
Abbotsford’s next game will be away versus Westboro on Sunday, June 25. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
