BRONSON, ONTARIO— The SweatSox rolled into Tuesday night’s matchup against the underdog Coyotes expecting to pad their record, but they left Brewer Park scratching their heads after being thoroughly outplayed in all facets of the game. Behind a masterful complete game shutout by Kevin Seguin, the Coyotes stunned the SweatSox 8-0, improving their record to 3-7 while dropping the Sox to 7-6.
Seguin was dominant from first pitch to last, scattering just five hits over seven innings, striking out two and stranding ten SweatSox baserunners. The Coyotes’ starter admitted he wasn’t sure he’d have enough in the tank to finish what he started.
“I didn’t think I’d go the distance,” Seguin said. “But that visit from Stu in the seventh… he told me to suck it up, and somehow that’s exactly what I needed to hear.”
Coyotes manager Stu Hayes, who plans to hang up his clipboard after this season to umpire full-time, was matter-of-fact about the pep talk.
“That’s just good managing,” Hayes chuckled. “I’ll miss those big-time walks to the mound for those heartfelt motivational speeches.”
The Coyotes gave Seguin an early cushion, scoring twice in the second, adding another run in the fourth, and then blowing the game wide open with a five-run sixth. Danyk Leroux’s two-run single to LF highlighted the outburst.
For the SweatSox, the turning point was simply never turning. Every time they threatened, the Coyotes defense snuffed it out with timely plays, leaving the Sox to strand the bases loaded multiple times.
“That’s baseball,” SweatSox manager Cory Bond said post-game. “They had all three phases working tonight — pitching, defense, timely hitting. You tip your cap. It’s why you play the games.”
Josh Ramage took the ball for the SweatSox and, despite being charged with the loss, gave his team six gritty innings. He allowed eight runs on eight hits, walked four, and struck out a season-high six — including striking out the side for the first time since tee-ball.
“Had to cut my crutch (the defense), like Cerrano did with Jobu, and just do it myself,” Ramage joked.
Offensively, the only consistent bright spot was Mike Pignat, who earned his third straight Offensive Player of the Game nod by reaching base three times (1-for-1 with two walks).
“My back’s starting to hurt from carrying the offense,” Pignat quipped. “So the boys better start stepping up… or at least bring me extra beers.”
Honourable mentions went to Geoff Nolan, who reached base twice with a hit and a walk, while Eric White, Phil Leduc, and I, Shaun Keay each added trivial singles.
Defensively, Nolan also claimed Defensive Player of the Game for one solid play at 3B in the first inning, which was the only decent thing we did on either side of the ball. Kent Johnston could’ve stolen the award had he not just missed hauling in a second-inning Kevin Segun double over his head, or perhaps the ground rule double in the gap for Tristan Haman two batters later.
“Those were tough hits,” Ramage said. “If Kent can’t get to ‘em, nobody’s getting to ‘em.”
Sweatiest Player of the Game was an easy call, with catcher Phil Leduc earning the nod for grinding through the oppressive humidity in full gear.
“I always go until I can’t go no more,” Leduc said five days later, with sweat still pouring down his face from that awful night.
As for the Coyotes, nearly every player chipped in, so the SweatSox opt to highlight first baseman and known SweatSox superfan Andrew Wilimek, who racked up five putouts and a rare 3-4 assist. We’d X-like that too if you tweeted a GIF of it…
The SweatSox will try to bounce back Sunday night when they return to Kinsmen to face the Bats at 8:30 p.m, roster permitting.
Final SweatSox vs Coyotes Notes/Thoughts:
- Craig’s corked bat doesn’t sound great.
- Josh liked Kent batting 5th, until the 1st inning momentum killing bases loaded DP.
- Freezing on a line drive is always a good idea.
- The Coyotes knew exactly what they were doing DH’ing for their LF, paid off bigtime in the 2nd inning.
- Craig’s corked bat still doesn’t sound great.
- Nick Henderson left the game in the 4th inning with a lower body injury, much to the chagrin of Coyotes scorekeeper Sean Wright who wasn’t immediately made aware of this substitution by the umpires. Chaos ensued, but no protest though.
- Andrew refused to enter the game and pinch run for me (Shaun Keay).
- Paul Giles is a fan of my (Shaun Keay) work on these recaps.
- Why does my (Shaun Keay) jersey feel like it just came out of the washer?
- Geoff has now qualified for the playoffs, next up: Steve Brown (x5).
- Shoutout to Trevor for hosting the post game Glizzy-Q.
- How fast does CK drink beers? The Coyotes cut him off after like 10 minutes!
- Per Gus, every cool thing Gus knows he learned from Uncle Cory.
- High fives are always better with some butter on it.
- Can somebody send me Stu’s home address so I can print this off and mail it to him?
#WONTHEHYJINX