Charlottetown squad beats Newfoundland and host teams
The Charlottetown Gahan House Fawcetts are 2-0 after the first day of action at the Canadian senior men’s fastpitch championship in Stratford, Ont.
The Fawcetts opened with a 7-4 victory over Don Cherrys from Newfoundland and closed the day with a 7-0 win over the host Shakespeare Falcons in five innings.
Ontario pickup Jamie Shields had a single and a home run and drove in three runs to lead the Fawcetts in the opening game. Peter Mersereau added two hits and drove in a pair of runs with a first-inning triple while shortstop Dustan Jones had a home run and a double and scored twice as part of the team’s 10-hit attack.
Leadoff man Jamie MacDonald had a single, scored twice and had an RBI. Chris Craig, Mark Arsenault and Mike Craig each added hits.
The Fawcetts jumped out to a 7-0 lead through two-and-a-half innings before Newfoundland replied with three runs in the third and one in the fourth, chasing starter Steve Langley. Mitch Hardy came in with two outs in the fourth and went the rest of the way for the victory.
Mark Power took the loss.
Langley gave up four runs on five hits, struck out three and walked two. Hardy allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four.
Hardy got the win in the night game with a two-hitter. He walked three and struck out nine.
The Fawcetts got the sticks going early with three solo home runs in the first, including back-to-back jacks by Shields and Chris Craig. Mersereau had the other first-inning homer.
Charlottetown added two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to complete the victory.
Arsenault and Chris Craig each had two hits while Langley and MacDonald had one each. The Falcons made three errors behind Andrew Phibbs.
Charlottetown plays Scarborough, Ont., today at 4 p.m. and East Hants, N.S., at 8 p.m. Both times are Atlantic. East Hants split their first two games while Scarborough beat the Falcons 8-1 and was playing the defending champs in the late game.
Jeff Ellsworth is playing with the defending champion Cheers Pub from Newfoundland. They opened the tournament with a 14-1 victory over Kitchener, Ont., Ellsworth was 1-for-4 with four RBIs and a run scored.
Today they play Quebec at 5 p.m. and the Falcons at 9:30 p.m.