Baseball sweeps George Brown Wednesday evening

By: William Shoukri
Humber Athletics Communications

ETOBICOKE – Humber baseball (4-1, 2nd OCAA) swept the George Brown Huskies (2-2, 5th OCAA) Wednesday evening under the lights at Connorvale Park. Humber won the first game 5-2, thanks to some lights-out pitching from reliever Ronan Hayes and consistent offence with three RBIs from senior Aidan Murphy. Humber took the second game 9-6 as Xavier Whittle crushed a three-run homer to extend Humber's win streak to four.   

Game One (Humber 5, George Brown 2)

Humber needed their defence and offence to win this game. Second-year pitcher Maxim Skoropadsky got the nod in game one, earning his first start of the year. After throwing a scoreless first inning, it was time for Humber's bats to come out.

Hudson Lockwood led off for Humber, quickly singling to center field, where he would advance to second base off a passed ball. David Boatto stepped in the box and made quick work of George Brown pitcher Finley Butler, smashing an RBI triple to deep right field. However, Humber wouldn't leave it there, as Boatto would score from third thanks to an Aidan Murphy RBI single. Humber would leave the inning up 2-0.

Skoropadsky stayed hot in the second, striking out consecutive batters to end the inning, leaving George Brown scoreless. 

The Hawks' bats would also stay hot in the second, with leadoff hitter Dylan White doubling to left field. With runners at first and third, Caleb Eguren would bring White home with an RBI single. Now with runners on second and third, an Aidan Murphy two-run single brought Tyrus Bath and Caleb Eguren home, extending Humber's lead to five.

George Brown would struggle to find an answer for Humber's defence but managed to score a run with an RBI single hit by Tom Gireau. Not to be deterred, Humber would come up clutch with a double play with bases loaded to end the inning. Jaykob Turner was all business defensively, finishing three double plays for the Hawks.

George Brown would score once more in the fifth, with Kyle Bandura scoring from third on a single to right field. Ronan Hayes would come in to relieve Skoropadsky after the run. The second-year pitcher threw three shutout innings to record the save as the Hawks took game one, 5-2.

Game Two (Humber 9, George Brown 5)

Humber mimicked their first game, getting off to a hot start. Ryan Brodie got the start on the mound, his first of the year, ending the inning quickly with a flyout and two ground outs.

Once Humber got to the dish, they started working. Facing six-foot-five pitcher Hayden Wesseling, Hudson Lockwood repeated his leadoff at-bat from the first game, once again singling to center field.

Boatta gets on base with a single to first but gets Lockwood thrown out at second. With two outs and David Boatta on second base, Jaykob Turner launches an RBI single into center field, scoring Boatta.

Brodie had his best stuff early in this game, retiring the first six batters consecutively. Justin Groves would end the inning with a diving catch in center field to send Humber back on offence.

Humber started pouring on the runs soon after, with Groves, White, Eguren, and Boatta scoring consecutively. The Hawks weren't finished there, as Xavier Whittle connected for his first hit a Hawk, launching a three-run home run to deep left field. Murphy and Turner would score on that play.

Returning to the mound, Brodie would retire the next three batters in order, getting an already excited Humber squad rolling. Unfortunately, after lighting up the Huskies for seven runs in the second inning, Humber's offence began to cool down. With Nathan Brown coming in to relieve a struggling Wesseling, Humber would struggle to make contact. They would successfully get the bases loaded after singles from Murphy and Sisca. With one out and bases loaded Dylan White would step up to the plate, calmly delivering an RBI single, scoring Murphy to extend Humber's lead to nine.

However, the Huskies refused to roll over, and the cool temperatures started getting to Ryan Brodie. The Peterborough native walked three consecutive batters after giving up a single, allowing the Huskies to get on the board with two runs. Third-year reliever Eric Alcaraz would come in midway through the fifth inning to try and stop the bleeding, but the George Brown bats stayed hot. After a couple of runners scored on passed balls, and when the inning concluded, the score was 9-5.

With a four-run lead in the home half of the sixth inning, George Brown had runners on second and third and two outs. Alcaraz had a clutch strikeout to end the frame, getting Patrick Jannetta swinging.

Jayke Wong would come in to close for Humber in the seventh inning, giving up a run before striking out his next batter. Wong would finish the game with a flyout, stranding batters on first and second.  

Humber Highlights

• Xavier Whittle recorded his first home run for the Hawks.
• Humber improves to 34-0 all-time against the George Brown Huskies.
• Ryan Brodie earned his first career win for the Hawks.
• Hudson Lockwood and Caleb Eguren have been red-hot to start the season, with batting averages well above the .400 mark.
• Ronan Hayes recorded his first career save.

What's Next?

Humber baseball (4-1, 2nd OCAA) will look to extend its win streak Sunday afternoon, heading north to take on Sault College (0-4, 9th OCAA). First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.