In a surprise upset at Labatt Park, the last place Guelph Gryphons handed the first place Western Mustangs a pair of defeats in their afternoon double-header, winning 4-2 and 10-6, respectively.
Pitching was the key for the Gryphons on Saturday as starting pitchers Colin Calvert and Adam Reynolds both provided solid outings for Guelph.
Western’s head coach Mike Lumley praised both Guelph starters while admitting his team had its struggles at the plate.
“[The Gryphons] had two great pitchers on the mound today,” Lumley said after the game. “We didn’t execute hitting-wise. We got on base but didn’t charge the runs in.”
The Mustangs out-hit the Gryphons 9-8 but were aneamic with runners in scoring position, going 2 for 14. Mustangs left fielder Ian Campbell, whose dynamic catch in the fifth inning was one of the few bright spots for the Mustangs in game one, pinned the loss on his team’s struggle to hit with men on base.
“We had trouble stringing hits together,” Campbell, who went one for three with a run, said. “It’s never fun for that to happen. If you look at the scoreboard, we had more [hits], but [Guelph] strung theirs together.”
Western’s starting pitcher Adam Paish gave up eight hits and four earned runs over six innings, suffering his first lost of the season. Campbell defended his pitcher, noting the Mustangs did not provide Paish with much run support.
“[Giving up] four runs isn’t the best game, but it’s not a bad game,” Campbell said. “We should be helping our pitcher a lot more.”
Paish was outdone by the Gryphons’ Calvert who went the distance allowing nine hits and just one earned run to earn the first victory of the season for Guelph who were 0-4 coming into the game. After his outing, Calvert stressed the importance for the Gryphons to keep their eyes on the prize.
“[It’s important] not to get cocky. This is our first win this year — we need to stay focused and go out and have the same performance [in our next game],” Calvert explained.
The Gryphons clearly took Calvert’s advice to heart, as they came out in the back end of the double header with momentum and confidence. Western’s starting pitcher, Andrew Bergman, was rocked early for three runs in the first inning before settling in.
Bergman pitched four and two-thirds innings, giving up three earned runs before being replaced by Carlos Cabrero who had a rough afternoon, giving up four earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning.
Guelph starting pitcher Adam Reynolds pitched six strong innings, giving up four earned runs and striking out the first six batters he faced.
Fundamentals hurt Western throughout the game as Guelph cashed in three runs after two Western errors in the first inning and three more unearned runs off Western’s trio of errors in the fifth.
Gryphons head coach Matt Griffin acknowledged the importance of capitalizing on Western’s gaffes and taking an early lead.
“We came out today and hit the ball hard and they did make some mistakes, but that’s how you win ball games,” Griffin said after the game. “If you put enough balls in play, teams in this league are going to make mistakes and that’s when you capitalize and score runs.”
The bottom of the order provided most of the offence for the Mustangs. Number nine hitter Shawn Robinson had a big day at the plate going two for three with three runs batted in, while the seventh and eighth hitters, Andrew Thompson and Juheng Kim, chipped in two hits a piece.
Meanwhile, the Gryphons were led by cleanup hitter Brendan Higgins who went one for three with three RBIs.
For Lumley, whose team has now lost three of its last four games, continuing to fight and not getting down on themselves is the key to ending Western’s slump.
“We talked to our guys at the end of the game about fight or flight. They are just going to have to continue to fight,” Lumley explained.
“It’s too easy to say ‘okay, we’re on a losing streak right now.’ We can either fight back and continue to do things or we can pack it in and end up at the bottom of the pack.”