Men’s baseball team splits
doubleheader at home
SUNSHINE AND A new home stadium set the mood for the University of Ottawa’s men’s baseball team’s doubleheader against the John Abbott College Islanders on Sept. 17. The Gees entered the games with a solid 4-1 record, moving to 5-2 for the season.
The first game of the day ended in disappointment for the Gees, as the hometown crew fell 9-5 to a talented Islanders lineup. While the Gees gave the Islanders credit for their hard-fought win, Ottawa’s head coach Larry Belanger was disappointed with one aspect of his team’s game.
“We didn’t play very well defensively,” said Belanger. “We know we’ve got offence, but defensively we didn’t play nearly as well as we’re capable of playing. It looks like we’re going to grow though.”
After a short break, the teams were back in action, with the Gees out for redemption. The top of the first saw the Islanders open with a pair of runs, but Ottawa was quick to reply. Third-year infielder Steve Kutcher led the inning for the Gees-Gees, cracking a single to right field. A few short plays later, Kutcher crossed home plate for the first of what would be seven Gees runs in a huge first inning, finishing with a score of 7-2.
The Garnet and Grey didn’t look back, going on to take the second game of the day 16-6. First-year pitcher Max George-Lane led the Gees with a strong performance on the mound, backed up by an explosive offence.
“We’ve got a very deep, deep batting order. One through nine is strong,” said Belanger, remarking on the competitive club’s offensive lineup. “We jumped on them for seven runs in the first inning, so that makes it tough on any team to come back to pitching after that.”
Player of the game for the Gees was third-year outfielder Dante Cacciatio, who went two for four at the plate and contributed four runs batted in.
“I think it was a little bit of [a] vendetta for us.,” said Cacciatio. “We wanted to come out strong and show them we could actually play ball, especially our fans. We can hit the ball and that’s usually what we do.”
Despite the Gees’ attempt at promoting the game, the team’s impressive position in the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association’s standings, and the game taking place a short bus ride away from campus at the Ottawa Fat Cats Stadium, less than 200 fans were on site to cheer on the Gees. Cacciatio is one of the many players hoping for more fan support in the future.
“We want to get more people out to the games if we can, to come see what we can do,” said Cacciatio.
The team will be playing their next home game on Sept. 24 when they will host the University of Concordia Stingers in a doubleheader at 7 p.m.
—Keeton Wilcock
