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Abby Heat hosts 17U tournament

Abby Heat hosts 17U tournament Abby Heat hosts 17U tournament

The Abbotsford Heat hosted a four-team, 17U roundrobin tournament over June 24 and 25. They faced some stiff competition, as teams from Edgar, Stratford, and Medford all made the trek to Red Arrow Park. All three visiting teams had some portion of the varsity squads that had played in their respective regional championships. Despite leading at some point during all three of their games, the Heat failed to capture a victory over the weekend. They certainly had their opportunities in their final matchup against Edgar, but ultimately fell by a score of 14-9.

Fans of offense were treated to a weekend full of scoring and the last game of the tournament was no different. Strikeouts and walks were few and far between for both Abbotsford and Edgar, leaving the ball-game to be decided by batted ball placement and defense. The Heat mostly matched their opponent in the first category, but the difference maker would be in the latter.

The chief example of this occurred in the second inning. Heat pitcher JV Castillo had worked through the first inning without surrendering a run and looked to have gotten out of a bases loaded jam in the second without any damage after he induced a ground ball. An error on the play, however, would allow a runner to cross the plate and reload the bases.

Opposing pitcher Brett Baumgartner stepped to the plate and helped his own cause by belting a bases clearing double, giving Edgar a 4-2 lead.

Two of the four runs scored by Edgar in the next inning also came after an error by the Heat.

Despite some shaky defense, the Abbotsford bats seemed to be doing just fine. They had taken an early lead after Mateo Lopez’s first inning triple brought in a run. They increased that lead to 2-0 when a wild pitch allowed him to score during the next at bat.

Then, later in the game, four straight singles by Blake Bargender, Nano Lopez, Noah Schraufnagel and Castillo started a fourth inning rally from the Heat. Mateo Lopez and Brandon Diedrich brought home runners on singles of their own during the inning, making the score 7-8. However, that would be all the closer they would get, as Edgar scored five of their own in the bottom half of the inning, putting the game out of reach.

In addition to some gifted runs on the defensive end, the Heat also ran themselves out of several scoring opportunities on the basepaths. While they were looking to expand on their lead in the second, two Heat baserunners were caught trying to advance. Edgar’s defense was able to execute in both rundown situations, taking potential Abbotsford runs off the board.

Castillo took the loss and was on the mound for the first four innings, surrendering 13 runs over that span. Mateo Lopez took over in the fourth and tossed the rest of the game.

Lopez led the way with three RBIs, with Castillo, Diedrich, Bargender and Schraufnagel all contributing one each.

Depsite the loses, there were certainly some takeaways from the weekend. The Heat fields much of the Abby/Colby varsity roster, so the experience gained both during this tournament and over the rest of the team’s summer schedule could prove to be invaluable. Baseball, like many sports, is a game of repitition, and having these extra opportunities to compete is key for a younger team.

The Heat will travel to Marathon on June 30 for their next set of games. They are set to play a seven inning varsity game followed by a five inning junior varsity game.


DIVING STOP -Noah Schraufnagel flashed the leather in the first inning of the Heat’s game against Edgar, making a tough play to record the final out.STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
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