A light rain and dark, ominous clouds threatened to postpone Game 2 of the semi-final match-up between the Riverview Weed Man A's and the Saint John Mets at Forest Hills Field, Tuesday night. As though Mother Nature knew what was in store, the skies cleared and the epic battle began on time. Outstanding pitching and stellar defence was the name of the game. Jon Loughery of the A's and Josh "General" Lee of the Mets went toe-to-toe in a brilliant pitchers dual.
The A's scored the games first run when the Mets tried to turn an inning ending double play in the top of the fourth. The throw from second baseman Ryan Mitchell sailed over the head of Kent Fulton at first which allowed Kyle Keeping to score from second.
The Mets would not go quietly into that good night as third baseman Chris Steele drew a one out walk in the bottom of the seventh. He would be replaced by pinch runner Ryan Donovan. With two outs and two strikes on the number nine hitter, Keith Wasson, Loughery left a fastball up in the zone and Wasson hammered it to right centerfield. Donovan would score all the way from first on the double and knotted the game at one's.
The A's would threaten in the top of the ninth when Matt Hebert started the inning with a base on balls and Jolin Benoit bunted him into scoring position. With two outs and Hebert on second, Lee walked another A's hitter, Mark Deveaux and brought A's slugging first baseman Jody Cole to the plate. That would spell the end of the evening for Lee who went 8 2/3 allowing only one run on four hits and 8 walks while fanning 7. Fulton would come in to put out the fire as Cole hit a sharp liner to center that was caught to end the threat.
When the A's took the field in the bottom of the 10th, Cole replaced Loughery on the mound, closing the book on Loughery's performance. He allowed one run on four hits, three walks and struck out 13 Mets over nine strong innings of work.
The top of the 11th started innocently enough for the A's when Hebert grounded out to third and Benoit hit slow roller to second base. But when second baseman Phil Brown was unable to come up with the grounder, the A's were in business. Greg Hickox followed Benoit with a single to left. When Fulton walked Deveaux the bases were loaded with only one out and round two of the Fulton - Cole match-up was set. This time, Cole prevailed stroking a solid single to left on a 2-2 pitch cashing in Benoit from third and giving the A's a 2-1 lead.
In order to record the win, Cole would have to navigate through the meat of the order as the 4,5,6 hitters were due up for the Mets. Cole would strike out Dan Taylor to start the inning before giving up back-to-back walks to Fulton and Mark LeClair. Cole reached down for a little something extra and struck out both Donovan and Matt Green to preserve the win for the A's and give them a 2-0 series lead.
Game 3 of the series is slated for Harold Page Field in Riverview, Thursday night at 8:00pm.
