Tuesday night doubleheader in North Gower - the details

from Eric Rosenquist and Chad Milne

Game 1: Carp 5 Kars 1

Neil Cooke got the start for Carp while Jamie Smith countered for Kars and had two innings of relief help from Cory Alkerton.

Carp got on the board first when second baseman Andrew Fortier hit a solo homerun, but Kars answered in their half of the inning when Jeff Hopkins singled with one out and was driven in by shortstop Nick Ellis.

Carp regained the lead in the top of the 5th when Fortier hit a leadoff triple and then scored on Shawn Simzer's homerun to center. Adam Purdy and Kevin McGuire followed with singles of their own and were driven in by a Mike Money double to make the score 5-1. From there, Cooke shut down the Kars hitters, retiring nine straight to close out the game.

For his 2 for 3 night, Andrew Fortier gets the nod as the Caveman's Choice for player of the game.

 

Game 2: Carp 5 Kars 5

 

The nightcap was a Carp home game - a make-up from a rain out on May 23rd. Cody Price got the ball for Carp with Brad Porter pitching for Kars.

 

Once again, Carp struck first, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. Dan Loney led off the inning with a single, was bunted to second by Adam Purdy, and was driven in by a Kevin McGuire home run.

Kars got a run back in the top of the 2nd. Chad Milne led off with a walk. Milne advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a groundout by Cory Morrison. Andy Davey then brought Milne home with a groundout to first.

Kars tied the game at 2 in the top of the 3rd. Jeff Hopkins led off with a walk, followed by a walk to Kristian Knapp. Both runners moved up on a strikeout that forced the Carp catcher to make a throw to first to get the Kars batter. With one out, Corey Alkerton hit a sacrifice fly ball to centre field to score Hopkins.  

Carp regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth courtesy of a solo homerun from Shawn Simzer.

 

Trailing 3-2, Kars took the lead in the top of the 6th. With one out, Cory Morrison doubled, followed by a walk to Andy Davey. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Alkerton. Matt Pollard then hit a sharp ground ball that was fielded nicely by the Carp third baseman, but an errant throw to first allowed both Morrison and Davey to score for Kars.

Carp answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the 6th to make the game 5-4. Mike Money led off the inning with a solo homerun, then Andrew Fortier hit a one-out single, stole second, and was driven home when Joe Murray's ground ball got past the Kars second baseman.

Kars battled back again in the top of the 7th. Nick Ellis led off with a triple into the left field corner. Corey Alkerton then walked. Jamie Smith, who had entered the game in the 4th inning for an ailing Milne, singled up the middle to drive in Ellis. After a flyout, Andy Davey reached on a Carp error and Kars looked to take the lead, with two runners on and only one out. But Cody Price was able to settle down and end the Kars` threat with two big strikeout to keep the score 5-5.

Cory Alkerton relieved Porter on the mound for the bottom of the seventh and allowed two runners to reach, but stranded them with a fly ball to first base to end the game and preserve the tie.

 

Joe Murray of Carp earned the Caveman's Choice as player of the game, going 2/3 with a ROE as the DP.