Playoff Preview: Cutlass drawn, stinger poised

Playoff baseball continues this weekend at Henry Jones’ field as the top seeded Belfast Hornets and the wild card winning Belfast Buccaneers start their best-of-three series to decide the B league North representative in the Baseball Ireland final.

The Buccaneers will hope to ride the momentum into next Sunday against the Hornets, a team they have not had much success against in 2015. With a walkover to each side, the Hornets own a 3-0 record in played games this year but they will wish to stay clear of complacency against a Bucs team they have jostled for position with this summer.

In the first game, Mark Smith (7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 12 K) was countered by the combination of Kalvin Breet (2.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) and Jon Carter (5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 9 K). With both teams registering seven hits, the Hornets converted each to a run in a game that was a lot tighter than the score would initially appear.

The second game would be a different matter. The Hornets offence, punctuated by Smith’s 8 RBI, 2 HR performance as well as another quality pitching start for the Hornets coach was simply too much for the Buccaneers in that outing, 18-5 the final in a performance that was littered with fielding errors.

The third game would be a much more competitive affair, Colin Woods matching up against Jon Carter in a pitcher’s duel. Left-hander Carter would attempt to carry his Bucs with a solid outing on the mound (7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) and at the plate with his team’s only RBI on the day; the Hornets offence, coming from impressive rookie John McKee, veteran Gord Cuthbert and Stephen Rogan provided enough run support for the powerful righty Woods (7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 14 K) for the Hornets to come away with another win.

With both teams containing veterans and rookies, power pitching and the ability to score runs quickly and in bunches, games 1 and 2 of the best-of-three series starting on Sunday should be a barnstormer.