16U Knights hit 20 wins with Sunday sweep

2009-06-14

OTTAWA – The 16U Ottawa Knights hit the 20-win mark on the season Sunday, sweeping a pair of games from the Montreal Orioles in Espoir Quebec midget league play.

Ottawa won the first game 7-1, and then the nightcap 7-4 at Frank MacDonald Park in Kanata . That leaves the Knights 20-8 overall (two of those losses were to 18U teams) and 9-2 in league play.

In the first game, pitcher Patrick Medeiros ran his record to 7-2, shutting down the Orioles on just three hits over five innings. He did not surrender an earned run, with Montreal scoring off a first-inning error. Ryan Atkinson tossed two innings of hitless relief to close it out.

Offensively, Dom Heallis and Jamie Wilcox each had two hits, Rizz Mendoza and Pat Derouin pounded doubles, to lead the offence. Ottawa broke open a tight 2-1 game with a five-run fifth inning.

In the second game, Wilcox continued his strong day with a double and single, scoring two runs, to spark the offence. Steve Milks belted a single and sac fly to drive in two more runs, while Derouin and Atkinson smacked back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth inning. This game was also close in the early going, with the Knights pushing across three runs in the fifth to break a 4-4 deadlock.

On the mound, pitcher Adrian Yuen got the win with 3 2/3 innings of rock solid relief. Starter Dave Bell battled through the first 3 1/3 innings, keeping the Knights in the game despite not having his best stuff.

A defensive highlight for the Knights came in the second inning, when first-baseman Pat Hill snared a line drive down the first base line and doubled off a runner at first. Hill is just returning from six weeks off with a strained rotator cuff.

Another key defensive play came from second baseman Mendoza, who snagged a hard ground ball and threw out a Montreal runner at home with the bases loaded in the fourth.

Background:

The Knights have a couple of exhibition games scheduled over the next 10 days, but have next weekend off from league play due to high school exams. The Knights next serious action is an 11-day swing through Indianapolis , Ind. and Akron , Ohio . They will play in two major U.S. college showcase tournaments from June 24-July 4 as well as some exhibition games in Ohio .

This excursion replaces a planned trip to Puerto Rico , which had to be cancelled due to problems with accommodations.

The 16U Knights compete in the Quebec midget league. The squad hosts the Knights Classic in Ottawa on Aug. 7-9 with teams from across Ontario , Quebec and the U.S.