Status Quo in the Verbandsliga!


01 June 2015

After winning a tight ballgame against beckerich on friday night on the national stage (5-4), the Sappers travelled to Trier on saturday.

Before the game Manager Strock's message was clear, he knew it was very important to win both games. The task was very difficult without Fermin R and Godoy available only for the first game. The Sappers only managed to win one. Here is how it all went down.



Game 1:



The Sappers fell quickly behind with the score being 3-0 after 2 innings. But the Sappers slowly came back to take a 7-5 lead at the top of the 6th inning. The cardinals would respond in the bottom of the same inning to tie the ballgame. At the top of the 7th inning the sappers didn't manage to take the lead. This put a lot of pressure on the Sappers pitcher Godoy who kept the cardinals scoreless in the bottom of the same inning, thus forcing extra innings. After a scoreless 8th, the sappers took a one run lead at the top of the 9th inning. But at the bottom of the 9th inning the cardinals scored two runs without even recording a hit. Mertz reached base on a dropped third strike to lead off the inning and would score on two stolen bases and a passed ball to tie the game. 2 batters later, after reaching base on a walk, Kohn would steal a couple of bases and score on a wild pick off attempt. For the Sappers it was a very frustrating loss as a few costly errors let the game slip away. The Sappers outhit the cardinals in that game 14-8 but committed 5 errors.

" In this league, it's about who commits the least errors and we made a few mistakes in game one. I hope we can reach the point where we are able to sweep a double header. But I think the team is improving in the right way and I believe that we can reach that goal." according to Manager Strock.



Game 2:

One more time, after dropping the first game, the sappers managed to win the second ball game. (it has happened for the third time this season already). The Sappers scored 4 runs in the first two innings but Sappers starting pitcher ran in to trouble early and also allowed 4 runs in two innings including an impressive opposite field home run by Mertz. Over the course of the game the sappers would score a few runs and give Pena an 8-4 lead. He had settled down after those 2 troublesome frames. In the bottom of the 7th the Cardinals attempted another comeback but Pena was able to close it out despite allowing 2 runs. Final score 8-6.



The next day the Bears split their double header against Mainz. Meaning that the Sappers keep second place in the standings with a 4-5 record. Kaiserslautern is still first with a 8-2 record. Mainz is third with a 3-4 record and trier last with a 2-6 record.



The Sappers have 2 very important games coming up against the Kaiserslautern Bears next sunday in Trier. Playball 12pm. We hope you come and support us as the forecast seems to be splendid. Drinks and food will be provided by the cardinals, we already thank that!