: Snapper News: Snappers Cool Lukes, Settle The Fury

The Niagara Snappers travelled to Niagara Falls to take on the Niagara Falls Lukes and Niagara Falls Fury in a GHFL doubleheader.  The Snappers, coming off a 6-2 loss in their opening GHFL game, came away with a 3-1 win over Lukes in game #1 and a 0-0 tie against Fury in game #2.

Game #1 saw Jason Paylove take to the mound for the Snappers looking to help the team to its first win of the young season.  Paylove was dialed in early on, striking out the side in the first inning and tossing a perfect game through 4 innings.  Paylove was in control of all of his pitches throughout the game resulting in 9 strikeouts along with 9 ground ball outs.  Mike Bateman came in to record the last 2 outs of the game and pick up his first save.  Bateman also paced the offence with 3 hits in his 4 plate appearances accounting for 2 RBI’s.  Scott Young went 2-3 with an RBI and Matt Lyon chipped in with a double and a walk.  The Snappers had many chances to break the game open, stranding 9 runners over 7 innings of play.

Game #2 pitted the Snappers against Niagara Falls Fury and the top pitcher in the GHFL, Scott Wagar.  Wagar was in his usual top form, striking out 10 Snappers en-route to a 0-0 tie.  Not to be outdone by his former teammate, Snapper newcomer Matt Lyon threw his best game of the season going 7 strong innings limiting the Fury offense to only 3 hits while striking out 4 along the way.  Lyon, in his first year with the team, has shown consistent improvement on the mound and is looked upon as a key component in the Snapper rotation.  Niagara’s offense was led again by Mike Bateman who went 2-3, Scott Young, Trevor Falk, Matt Lyon, Kevin Newhouse, Glen Crocker and Matt Bedrosian picked up 1 hit apiece.  Bedrosian and rookie catcher Ryan Rothwell played very strong defensive games to keep the Fury off the board.

Next action for Niagara, who now sport a 1-1-1 record in GHFL play, will be on Thursday May 28th at 8:30pm against the St. Catharines Red Hot Chili Pepper at Lancaster Park in St. Catharines.  This will be the Snappers first home game of the 2009 season as the team is playing all their home dates at Lancaster Park this year.

Niagara Snappers 3
Niagara Falls Lukes 1

WP:  Jason Paylove (1-0) 6.33IP, 3H, 1R, 9K, 2BB; in relief Mike Bateman (S1) 0.66IP, 0H, 0R, 1K, 0BB
LP:  Ron Winger (1-1) 7IP, 8H, 3R, 5K, 3BB

Snappers:  Mike Bateman 3-4 2RBI’s, Scott Young 2-3 1RBI
Lukes: Ron Laschowski 1-3 1RBI, Jeff Kraneyk 1-3

Niagara Snappers 0
Niagara Falls Fury 0

Snappers:  Matt Lyon (0-1-1) 7IP, 3H, 0R, 4K, 2BB
Fury:  Scott Wagar (2-0-1) 7IP, 8H,0R, 10K, 0BB

Snappers:  Mike Bateman 2-2, Matt Lyon 1-2, Matt Bedrosian 1-2, Kevin Newhouse 1-3
Fury:  Scott Wagar 1-1 (2 walks), Joe MacMaster 1-3, Adam Dearborn 1-3