Sox end slide, win two, tie one

WINCHESTER - After an unimpressive three-game losing streak, the Winchester Sox have finally rebounded and returned to the win column.
In their first year within the National Capital Baseball League's Tier 2 division, the Sox have managed to stake their place amongst the top three teams, fashioning a record of 12-7-2 to date, and have officially clinched a playoff spot.
Sox 7 - Braves 7
The most recent game for the Sox was at Ottawa Stadium on Sun., July 25, which saw the team square off with the last-place Braves (4-14-2).
"It was a bit of a back and forth game," said Chris Hart, the Sox manager and infielder. "We managed to pull off a tie in the end."
The scoring started early in the contest, with the Braves driving in two runs in the first inning.
During the second inning, Winchester's starting pitcher Justin "Footer" Morozuk settled in, getting the first two batters to ground out, while he struck out the third batter of the inning.
It was still a shaky inning for the Sox who sent six batters to the dish, but came away with no runs. Bobby Paradis flied-out to the shortstop to start it off, and was followed by a Matt Ware walk. Ware advanced to second after stealing that base, and was moved to third after a hard groundball hit up the middle by Matt Uhrig. Jon Drew was next to the plate, hitting a lazy grounder to the shortstop that stopped Uhrig at second base on a fielder's choice. The inning continued with a Matt Sauve single, but ended after Josh Stubbings grounded out.
The Sox scoring began in the third inning when Hart singled and scored on a Paradis sacrifice fly. Dave Yarwood walked and was scored when Ware hit his own sacrifice fly.
In the fourth, Drew scored on a Yarwood RBI single, which followed a long fly ball hit to left field by Hart. It was caught by the Braves fielder.
"It is the best catch by anyone not named Nik Paas," said Hart, making reference to the Sox star centre fielder.
The Yarwood single gave the Sox a 3-2 lead, but the Braves came back and put five on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 7-3 lead.
In the sixth inning, the Sox scored two runs off a triple by Paas. Paradis followed up with an infield single. He then stole second base, but that play saw Paas get picked off at third base where he was anticipating the throw to second.
In the seventh, Drew reached base on an error, and was forced out at second by a Stubbings single. That set the table for Hart to drive the ball to right field for an RBI triple, tying the game.
The Harbers Flame Centre "player of the game" honours went to Hart, who went three for five with two runs scored, and Paradis, who pitched three scoreless innings to keep the Sox in the game.
Sox 2 - Outlaws 1
The second game in the swing for the Sox was Fri., July 23 at Ottawa Stadium in a match-up against the first-place Outlaws (17-4-1).
"It was a well played and pitched game, playing in a light Irish mist and a very shortened lineup with 10 guys on vacation," said Hart.
The Outlaws opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a leadoff hit, which saw the runner steal second base, advance to third on the throw, and score on a wild pitch.
The Sox came right back in the same inning and tied the game with a Hart single, a Robyn Sadler single, and Paas RBI single.
A key play came in the third inning with runners on first and third, and nobody out. A ground ball was hit to Paradis at first base, and he threw home to get the runner trying to score out. This left runners at first and second with one out, but Harbers struck out the next batter and got a fly ball to end the inning.
"This was indicative of how Harbers routinely escaped trouble throughout the game," said Hart.
The winning run for the Sox was scored in the bottom of the fifth when Paas singled and proceeded to steal second, but could not advance on a Sauve infield hit. With runners at first and second, Uhrig (playing his first game of the year at shortstop) laid down a perfect bunt on the third base line for a single, after which the Outlaw infielder threw the ball over the first baseman's head, allowing Paas to score.
For his efforts, Harbers picked up the "player of the game" title.
Sox 11 - SweatSox 1
The two teams squared off at Ottawa's McCarthy Park on Tues., July 20.
Andre Robidoux was the Sox starting pitcher, going seven strong innings, giving up just two hits and one earned run, with 10 strikeouts and five walks.
The top offensive player of the night for the Sox was Paas who had five hits, five RBIs, with two runs scored, including a monster two-run homerun that landed on McCarthy Road, approximately 350 feet from home plate.
Both men earned "player of the game" honours.
Home versus Tribu
Next up for the Sox is a home game tonight (Wed., July 28) when the Outaouais Tribu (14-3-3) visit Morgan Field for an 8 pm contest.

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