Merchant bats come alive in Medford
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford Merchants split a pair of games over the past week, falling to the Augusta Athletics in an exhibition game before picking up a win over the Medford Moondogs in a Dairyland League contest. This pushed the Abbotsford squad’s record to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in league games.
Medford, 14-3
Blake Bargender and Wayne Jakobi collected three hits each, Payton Schreiber and Aaron Morrow combined to strikeout 11 batters in seven innings and the Merchants earned their third Dairyland league win of the season by defeating the Medford Moondogs 14-3 on the road this past Sunday.
A five-run second inning and some bend-but-don’t-break defense helped propel Abbotsford to the victory.
After a pair of leadoff hits from Blake Jakobi and Bargender got the Merchants on the board in the first, the visiting Abbotsford lineup opened things up in the second. A one-out double from Wayne Jakobi got things rolling for the Merchants. After two walks, Schreiber drew a full count walk to plate the first run of the inning and then Lucas Stahnke followed up with a bases loaded single to drive in two more. Jase Apfelbeck came through with a clutch double that scored two more runs and gave Abbotsford a commanding 6-0 lead.
While Medford was able to get a run across in the bottom half of the frame and held the Merchants scoreless in the third, Abbotsford was able to put up another crooked number in the top of the fourth. Morrow’s single knocked in Schreiber and an RBI groundout for Chance Clement plus a dropped third strike by the Moondogs allowed two more runs to come home.
The Moondogs scored multiple runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to solidify their hold over the contest, with Stahnke scoring on an error on a pickoff attempt and Wayne Jakobi collecting an RBI single in the sixth and Bargender and Clement adding RBI hits in the seventh.
Medford managed to put baserunners on in every inning but one, but a combination of Schreiber and Morrow on the mound and the Merchants’ defense behind them kept the damage to a minimum. Eleven Moondogs were stranded on the basepaths during Sunday’s affair.
Schreiber picked up the win after tossing four solid innings as Abbotsford’s starter. He only surrendered one earned run on four hits and two walks while striking out six batters. Morrow finished the job, pitching the final three innings and giving up one run on two hits and three walks. He also struck out five batters.
There were plenty of hits for the victorious Merchants, who finished the day with 13 in the seven inning contest. Bargender went 3-for-4 at the plate, driving in a pair of runs and scoring twice himself. Wayne Jakobi was 3-for-5 and had two RBIs, Stahnke walked three times and had a hit, collecting three RBIs and three runs and Apfelbeck had two hits and two RBIs. Wayne Jakobi, Bargender, and Apfelbeck all had doubles and Blake Jakobi collected
See MERCHANTS/ Page 16
DELIVERING ON THE MOUND - Aaron Morrow unleashes a fastball for a strike during the Merchants’ 14-3 win over Medford on Sunday. He tossed three innings of two hit ball in relief to help Abby secure their third straight league win.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Merchants
Continued from page 9
two stolen bases.
Augusta, 3-1
Despite a solid pitching performance from Jase Apfelbeck and Blake Jakobi, the Merchants could not muster enough offense to get the win on the road last Friday evening against the Augusta Athletics. The home squad came out on top in the low scoring game, topping Abbotsford 3-1.
Abbotsford’s offense quickly earned them a lead in the first inning but was held silent for the rest of the evening, only collecting three hits in the final eight innings of the contest.
After Jakobi reached on an error and was able to steal second to put himself in scoring position, Payton Schreiber came through with the Merchants’ sole RBI, hitting a line drive single to the outfield to score Jakobi.
The lead was short lived, however, as the Athletics answered right back in the bottom half of the frame. A two singles and a stolen base got Augusta on the board and a double to center field plated the go ahead run.
Apfelbeck bounced back to pitch four-and-a-third scoreless innings for the Merchants, giving the visitors a chance to get back into the contest. Their best chance to do so came in the top of the sixth. Blake Bargender started the inning with a lead off single and Schreiber was able to work a four pitch walk to give Abbotsford runners at first and second with no outs. While they were able to get the runners to advance on a wild pitch, a fielder's choice, a ground out and a strikeout left the pair of Merchants stranded.
Augusta used three hits and a walk to add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. While Jakobi was able to close out the final two innings without surrendering a run, the Abbotsford lineup could not string together enough offense to rally. Arturo Lopez was able to work a two out walk in the top of the ninth and Wayne Jakobi followed with a line drive up the middle, but the Athletics shut the door with a strikeout.
Apfelbeck took the tough luck loss, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks. The Merchants’ starter struck out nine in just five-and-a-third innings. Blake Jakobi came on in relief, going two-and-two-thirds innings while giving up three hits and a walk.
Bargender, Wayne Jakobi, and Blake Jakobi all went 1for-4 at the plate, with the latter Jakobi scoring the only run and stealing a base. Schreiber was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
The Merchants will travel to Pittsville on Wednesday night for their second game against the River Bandits before taking on the Westboro Trojans at home on Friday. The last time Abbotsford faced off against the River Bandits, they came out on top, defeating their Dairyland foes 9-1. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.
