For the first time in five years, the Howe Sound Cannons dropped two consecutive games at home, 12-5 and 8-5, in a doubleheader against the Moose at Laroy Watt Field on Saturday (May 28).
The losses put the Cannons' record at two wins and two losses and in fourth place in the North Shore Men's Baseball Association (NSMBA).
According to Cannons player David Jones, a depleted roster contributed to the defeats, but the team didn't help itself much with a handful of errors.
"Saturday was Cannons man-child catcher Brehan Lawrence's high school grad ceremony (at the civic centre, right next to the stadium) so he was unavailable," Jones said in an email."Jeremy Galley and Brent Dunsford bothcrushed home runs that may have ended up inBre's grad photo.But in the end we made six errors thatdidn't keep ourselves in either game."
Jones, who spent some time on the mound, said that he felt pretty good on the mound until the fifth inning in the first game.
"My knuckleball was aided by thewind and I pitched four strong innings in Game 1, but my fifth inning was another story," he said. "The Moose's Brendan Lewis hit a wind-assisted, bases-loaded fly ball that found its way out ofLaroy Watt."
He added that fisticuffs almost broke out after a couple of players on both teams were the victims of beanballs.
"Galley got hitin the first gameby Scott Webster, who throws in the mid to high 80s," he said. "Galley pitched the last two innings of Game 2 and when Webster came up he went 3-0 on him with first base openand I guess lost control and hitScott squarein the backwith a fastball. Then Galley'snext time up, he got hit again and so did Mark James, that's when things almost boiledover.Luckily everyone's sense of humourtook over and we remembered thatanything Webster hits when he's pitching is unintentional."
Jones said it's rare for things to get so heated and that the Cannons actually played together with some of the Moose players to win the Twin Cities Invitational (TCI) on May 23.
"In the TCI tournament that we won last week, three Moose players came with us to fill in for injuries," Jones said. "In Squamish on Saturday here'show the three fared: Brendan Lewis - broke game one open with a grand slam, Dusty Diamond hit a go-ahead homer in Game 2 and former prospect and UBC Thunderbird Scott Webster pitched Game 1 and had seven strikeouts in seven innings. Webster also picked up the save in Game 2. We invited them to play in the tournament to fill out our roster and that's the thanks we get?"
The Cannons will hit the road for the next two weeks before returning home to Laroy Watt Field for a doubleheader on June 18. For more information on the team, visit www.ballcharts.com/hscannons.
