Stars hope to avoid being put to Spartan sword

With walkovers and weather delays, getting a Belfast Northstars home game is a bit like finding hen’s teeth at the moment. That drought will (weather permitting) come to a halt this Sunday with the Dublin Spartans marching into Belfast as the ‘A’ team’s season enters its final few weeks.

With a playoff berth all but booked, Jon Carter will be looking to build crucial momentum against a Spartan side that has already tasted victory against Belfast in a narrow 8-5 victory, a victory in which Belfast outhit their opposition 9-7 and could not convert, leaving seven runners stranded on the day.

Spartans veteran ace Scott Karnes would start on the bump for the Spartans and would through a solid complete game, scattering 9 hits, 5 runs (4 earned) while allowing 2 walks and striking out nine. Belfast would counter with the wiliness of Gord Cuthbert’s breaking ball and the flat-out pace of Melvin Woods’ fastball. Unfortunately, the errors made by the Northstars were fully punished by the home team and with Andrei Apostoaie and John Dillon driving in two runs each, Belfast simply had too much to overcome in the last few innings and would leave Dublin with the wrong end of the result.

Belfast must take heart in the fact that seven of their team got at least one hit off Scott Karnes and look to drive the runners home this weekend at Henry Jones’ field. First pitch at 12pm.