COVENTRY, ON– The SweatSox rolled into the Stadium on Monday night looking to get back to .500, and they did so in commanding fashion, blanking the Coyotes 8-0 behind a stellar complete game from ace Eric White and a defensive clinic from the entire squad.
Entering the contest with a 2-3 record, the SweatSox methodically built their lead, scoring in five of the seven innings, while never letting the Coyotes (1-3) find any offensive rhythm.
“I don’t know what kind of defense that was,” said center fielder Trevor Williams. “But that was not SweatSox defense. That was real defense.”
Indeed, the SweatSox committed zero errors on the night, tying the all-time baseball record at any level for fielding perfection. It started early with Andrew Hierlihy hauling in a tough liner from the Coyotes’ leadoff man and never let up… Josh Ramage chased down a ball on the run in right field that could’ve been an inside-the-parker if he missed, Craig Cornell turned a crisp 5-4-3, and even catcher Phil Leduc managed a rare three-assist game from behind the plate. Larry Pawelek and I (Shaun Keay) caught everything that just happened to be thrown directly into the sun, while Nick Henderson secured the game-ending liner—thanks in part to the middle infield finally playing where they were told to.
“It’s amazing what we can do when we’re not worried about a wicked hop hitting us in the face—or worse,” said shortstop Geoff Nolan, tipping his cap to the Stadium groundskeepers. “Those guys deserve a game ball.”
On the mound, Eric White was nearly untouchable. Making his third start of the season, White threw a complete game three-hitter, striking out 10 and walking just one to earn his second win of the year. He flirted with perfection, retiring the first eight batters before Coyotes center-fielder Elijah Seunarine ended the dream.
“I credit my background as a Judo black belt,” said Seunarine. “That strikeout tried to grapple me, but I reversed the hold and threw a solid base hit to the outfield. You’ve gotta be ready to defend at all times.”
Seunarine also made an immediate impact on defense, robbing Nick Henderson of a leadoff hit with a diving catch to open the game. Coyotes catcher Tristan Haman added his own defensive highlight with a sliding grab by the backstop to end the 2nd, and the Yotes even executed a rare 9-3-2 double play in the 4th. But it unraveled for them in the 5th, when first baseman Nigel Morris mistakenly thought a 1-2-3 double play ended the inning. He rolled the ball back to the mound, allowing a heads-up Geoff Nolan to race home from third.
“These kinds of things happen with young, inexperienced players,” said Coyotes co-Manager Sean Wright. “We just hope Nigel can learn from this moving forward. He’s still got a bright future ahead.”
Offensively, Nolan led the SweatSox charge, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
“Once I stopped pretending to be an Athletic and fully embraced being a SweatSox, it all came together for me,” Nolan said. “This is who I am now.”
Honourable mentions on the night go to Larry Pawelek and Josh Ramage, who each recorded a single and a double. Ramage would’ve had a second double—or possibly his elusive second career triple—if not for a controversial sixth-inning call that incorrectly ruled his shot well inside the first base line foul.
“Why don’t we have instant replay at the Stadium yet?” Ramage questioned. “We each pay thousands of dollars a year to play, and where is this money going? You put a couple cameras down the line, hire a sky judge, buy a couple headsets—and boom—I get my well-deserved RBI!”
Despite the disappointment, Ramage was quick to acknowledge the support he received in the moment. “Thankfully, a few of the boys had my back through this tragedy,” he said. “Geoff came to the plate to be with me during my time of need, and Craig strolled onto the field to point out exactly where the ball bounced fair—and that’s what I appreciates about them.”
SweatSox Manager Cory Bond took a more diplomatic approach: “The umpires were completely transparent during the post-play discussions. Mistakes happen, and all we can do is move on. They have a tough job, and we appreciate everything they do for the game. No concerns from us at all moving forward.”
For the Coyotes, Colin Kargus pitched two innings of solid relief and collected one of the team’s three hits—getting the better of his former Royals teammate Eric White in their 5th inning match-up. Longtime SweatSox Twitter supporter Andrew Wilimek notched the other hit.
And from the other Coyotes co-Manager Stu Hayes, his summary of the night was simple and curt: “Boooooooooo.”
In a game full of SweatSox highlights, it was the team’s youngest contributor who may have sweated the hardest. Batboy Laken Pawelek chased every foul ball, fetched every bat, warmed up Ramage in the outfield between innings, and even celebrated post-game with a few crushed cans. He was an easy pick for Sweatiest Player of the Game. Thanks, kid.
The SweatSox improve to 3-3 on the season and will look to climb above .500 for the second time on Thursday, when they face the Lumberjacks at the Nepean Sportsplex, weather permitting.
Final SweatSox vs Coyotes Notes/Thoughts:
- With Trevor running in the Sunday marathon, everyone else was competing for 2nd place.
- Josh is funny all the time.
- Nobody asked for or wanted Mark’s toe updates.
- It was a big day for Cornell: First the university wins the men’s national lacrosse championship for the first time since 1977, then Craig gets word the SweatSox are using a 9-man lineup today. Dreams do come true!
- The J in Stadiujm stands for Joshua.
- Sticks for the boys are out. Meloney-Zero’s are in.
- Larry’s sheep has been found safely, much to the chagrin of Larry.
- Always say no if a 10 year old asks if you want candy.
- Geoff’s dad + a bigger glove is the key to Geoff being good.
- According to the research I did using the tools at my immediate disposal, we turned the first inning ending 5-4-3 DP in SweatSox history.
- According to Craig’s much deeper research, Josh set a new personal record with 2 outfield putouts in this game.
- Phil blocked a ball at the plate with his DICK!
- Josh is going to cut whoever was coaching 3rd for those baserunning blunders.
- There were no warnings, no ejections, and thus no paperwork after this one!
- The SweatSox are now 13-7 against the Coyotes since 2001.
- Swamp Ron hasn’t been in any swamps yet this year.
- I, Shaun Keay, am exactly 190 cm tall.
- Tom Coyne would’ve been proud of the defense we played today, unlike the kind he saw at Kinsmen the other night.
- Eric gets stuck when he finishes, except for that one time.
- There was no gluten-free gravy at the Stadium.
- We may have witnessed the start of #Convoy2025 tonight.
- Thanks to Jenna, Josh can’t relax after any hit to right field until he physically touches 1st.
- Were they playing poker with chip chips, or just working on their card counting scheme?
- Josh got me with “glowing”.
- The end of basketball games suck.
- A marathon is 42.195 km because of the castle people.