’Blasters swing hard for season’s first win

After opening the season with back-to-back losses against Albany and Post 20, the Three Rivers Casino Sandblasters came back to defeat Post 20 on Father’s Day for their first win of the summer.

The ’Blasters opened the season June 10 after rain canceled the scheduled opener the day before.

Hosting Albany, the Sandblasters fell to the Rockets 9-2. To add injury to insult, TRC began the day with 11 players but ended with 10 when Hayden Davisson had his tibia broken after he was slid into by a Rockets runner. Mid-Valley scored seven of its nine runs in the second inning. Pitcher Ryan Smith picked up the loss on the mound but also delivered a triple to lead the ’Blasters at the plate.

In the nightcap, Albany took advantage of TRC errors to sweep the night, 8-2. Mike Bennett got the loss on the mound.

“We had a lot of guys playing out of position and it showed,” said Sandblasters coach David Deutschman. “Bennett didn’t get much support offensively or defensively.”

On June 11, Post 20 hosted the Sandblasters to a 5-0 shutout, capitalizing on four TRC errors to score as many unearned runs.

At the plate, the Sandblasters had just five hits scattered over four innings, with Travis Gallagher receiving the loss.

However, the ’Blasters got some redemption on Father’s Day against Post 20. Early on, it looked like TRC was headed for another loss. After striking out 15 times in six innings, TRC fell behind 0-8. In the seventh inning, the Sandblasters strung together six hits, including eight base-on-balls, pushing 13 runs across the plate.

Bennett, who got the save on the mound, also led TRC at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and an RBI.

For the complete article see the 06-20-2012 issue.

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