Zeniths baseball getting the swing of things

By Karlene Skretting
Westwind Weekly News
reporter.karlene@gmail.com

On Monday evening, the Magrath Zeniths earned their first win of the season (1-2 record) when they defeated the Willow Creek Cobras 17-2 on the road. The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.
The Zeniths jumped out to and early lead and scored 13 runs in the first three innings.
“We came out hot, the guys were hitting the ball well,” explained Zeniths head coach Jordan Brame.
The boys remained disciplined at the plate and did not swinging at bad pitches. It paid off and they got on base. There were a lot of walks the first two innings, a couple guys even got hit by pitches, added Brame.
“Those first two innings I kind of felt like they gave us a lot of breaks, it was the last two innings where we scored one and three runs respectively. They had a better pitcher in and we were hitting the ball well.”
Coach Brame feels that the boys are taking ownership of the team and doing the necessary things that they need to in order to win SAHSBL games. They are aggressive at the plate, hitting the ball hard, taking extra bases and doing the little things they work on during practice.
The story of the game was Paycen Blackmore, the Grade 9 student athlete finished with five strikeouts over two innings, with no runs.
“He came in and pitched so calm and collected. He did really well and impressed a lot of people at the game.”
Offensively Brame is excited about Braden Anderson, he took a couple years off from baseball and just returned to the game last year, but he has been working hard to figure out and perfect his swing.
He went four for five against the Cobras, with four RBIs.
“He was crushing the ball and getting on base. He is a speed demon, basically if he gets on base he scores,” said Brame. “He had a great game, but it is a direct result of all the hard work he has put in.”
As a whole, the Zeniths easily handled the Cobras pitching as seven hitters combined for 15 hits, 12 RBIs and 17 runs scored.
Last Wednesday, the Zeniths lost 12-5 at the hands of the WP Walshe Flyers. The Zeniths have yet to win on their home diamond.
“We really made them look way better than they were,” said Brame. “If you look at the stats, other than walks, we played with them or better than them.”
The win was extra disappointing, because of Tyson Bourne’s spectacular evening from both the mound and the plate.
Bourne reached base three times in the game for the Zeniths. He singled in the third and seventh inning.
He also stood strong on the plate and kept batters guessing when he came in to close the last two innings.
“I was really proud of how we finished the game. I just think we dug ourselves into too big of a hole and couldn’t get out of it.”
To start off the bottom of the fifth inning Brame gave the boys a pep talk to wake up and make some big hits to avoid being 10-runned. They responded with three big runs after not scoring in the second, third of fourth inning.
Bourne gave up just one hit, allowed no earned runs, walked three and struck out three during his two innings of work.
Trent Ducharme reached base four times. He scored two runs and had two RBIs. He singled in the fifth inning.
“We are trying out new things, different guys at different positions and new pitchers who are still working out their kinks.”
Brame is chalking the first two losses of the season up to experience. Unlike many of the other teams, the Zeniths are letting everyone play and try different positions. And they hope to see the benefits of a stronger roster come playoffs.
“I think that we definitely haven’t played our best baseball yet. We have more potential than we have shown, so I am excited to see how the boys are going to do as they continue to grow.”
The Zeniths next home game is tonight (Thursday) against the JT Foster Knights. Opening pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

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