Team Easton 7 Stittsville 4 in Game 2 of the GOFL finals

from Sam Oliver

Team Easton squared the best of 5 GOFL final at one game apiece with a 7 – 4 win over the Stittsville 56ers on Wednesday night. Dan Konkle (7IP, 4R, 4H, 5BB, 1HB, 14K) picked up the win for Easton. Darren Featherstone (2IP, 6R, 4H, 4BB, 2K) took the loss for the 56ers with relief from Dan Bradley (5IP, 1R, 2H, 4BB, 6K).

Easton came hard out of the gates scoring 5 times in the first inning. Chad Milne led off the game with a hard hit single to right field. Kevin Chevrier followed by legging out an infield single to give team Easton 2 men on with no one out. Featherstone responded by striking out the next Easton batter, but then walked Randy Peck to load the bases. Cory Morrison continued his hot hitting by lofting a home run (the grand salami) over the right field fence to clear the bases. A Dave Tubman walk and a Konkle single put runners on the corners. The next batter, Pat O’Connor hit a sharp ground ball to first which turned into a 3 – 6 double play. However, since the first half of the double play was made at first base, removing the force at second, Tubman was able to score from third, putting Easton up by 5 runs.

The bottom half of the first would see a game 56ers squad respond. Scott Parsons hit a one out single to left field. With Dan Jessiman batting Parsons would advance to second on a wild pitch. After getting himself in a 0 ball 2 strike hole, Jessiman fouled off a number of pitches, and eventually stroked a 2 run HR to deep right field. Ryan Bond followed this by drawing a walk, but he would be left stranded.

Team Easton extended their lead in the top of the second. Lukas Kamps drew a lead off walk and would eventually reach third on a couple of Featherstone wild pitches. With one out, Kevin Chevrier struck out but reached first when the pitch eluded the Stittsville catcher. Chevrier was caught trying to steal second, however Kamps was able to score from third on the play.

The bottom half of the inning would see the 56ers cut into the Easton lead again. Dan Bradley drew a one out walk and this was followed by back to back triples by Tyler Nystedt and John Craig to score two runs. Scott Parsons was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners but Konkle would escape without further damage by striking out the next two Stittsville batters. The score at the end of two innings: Easton 6; Stittsville 4.

Featherstone’s walk to Randy Peck would put an end to his pitching line on the night. With first inning hero Morrison to hit, Dan Bradley took over the pitching duties. Morrison pulled Bradley’s first pitch on the ground to first base, resulting in a 3 – 4 double play.

Easton would add a run to their lead in the top half of the 4th inning. Konkle walked to start the inning, but was erased at second base when O’Connor hit into a fielder’s choice. O’Connor stole second and reached third on a passed ball. He would score when Milne picked up his second single of the night making the score 7 – 4 in favor of Easton.

The 56ers couldn’t muster any attack until the 7th inning. Nystedt and Craig drew back to back walks to start the frame, bring the tying run to the plate three times. That’s as close as it would get though, as Konkle escaped the jam by way of two strike outs and an infield fly.

For Stittsville:
John Craig 1 for 3, 3B, BB, RBI
Scott Parsons 1 for 3, 1B, HB, R
Dan Jessiman 1 for 4, HR, R, (2)RBI
Dan Bradley 0 for 2, BB, R
Tyler Nystedt 1 for 2, 3B, BB, R, RBI

For Easton:
Chad Milne 2 for 4, (2)1B, R, RBI
Kevin Chevrier 1 for 3, 1B, BB, R
Randy Peck 0 for 0, (4)BB, R
Cory Morrison 1 for 4, HR, R, 4RBI
Dave Tubman 0 for 2, BB, R
Dan Konkle 1 for 2, 1B, BB
Pat O’Connor 1 for 3, 1B, SB, R, RBI
Lukas Kamps 0 for 2, BB, R