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Written by Citizen staff
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Friday, 29 August 2008 |
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By the time they woke up, after two innings of ball diamond bombardment Friday at the Grand Forks International baseball tournament in Grand Forks, the Lewiston Truckers had loaded up a 7-0 lead, en route to a 10-3 victory.
The Idaho team, made up of players from the Lewis and Clark State College team, jumped all over Axemen starter Brent Suecroft of Calgary, scoring four runs in the first, all with two outs, and adding three more in the second.
Jason Cage of Prince George replaced Suecroft and did not allow an earned run the rest of the way in the seven-inning game, striking out seven, with no walks.
"Brent just struggled and got hit very hard, and gave up six hits in the first two innings, including a three-run home run in the second (by Kawita Emsley-Pai) that made it 7-0," said Axemen manager Jim Swanson.
"They started crushing the ball and we pulled him. Jason Cage came in and he was amazing. I've never seen him locate and change speed like he did in this game."
The Axemen ended up with just five hits, although Swanson said those hits came at opportune times to put Lewiston's pitchers under pressure.
"Lewis and Clark State College are perennial NAIA champs and we only struck out five times and drew four walks, so I was happy with that," said Swanson. "Take away those early seven runs and we're tied 3-3."
Next up for Prince George today is the Seattle Studs (1-1). The Axemen will send Tom Nielsen to the mound. Nielsen, a 32-year-old native of Oregon, is a former pro baseball player who spent four seasons in the San Francisco Giants system before he developed arm problems.
If the Axemen (0-2) win today, they would still have a mathematical chance of advancing to the next round if they have a favourable run differential as compared to two other teams with 1-2 records.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 August 2008 )
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