The Waterloo Warriors baseball team opened up their 2016 season with a pair of splits in their double header games with Laurier and Brock. In both instances, the black and gold won their first game before falling in their second.
On Saturday, Waterloo met up with the Golden Hawks in the battle of Waterloo at Bechtel Park and came away with the
3-2 win in game one thanks to a great outing by starting pitcher
Ryne Weppler (Walkerton). The fourth year rec and business student was stellar going five innings allowing just five hits and one run to pick up his first win of the season. Reliever
Austin Coles (Ancaster ) picked up the save.
At the plate
Kyle Balzereit (Brantford) and
Haydon Friesen (Altona) each picked up two hits while Balzereit added two RBI's in the victory.
In game two, Laurier scored seven runs in the first three innings to cruise to the 9-4 win over Waterloo.
Rayman Singh (Woodbridge) was given the loss allowing six hits and seven runs over three innings of work. Offensively Micahel Clouthier went 2-for-2 with two walks and two RBI's.
On Sunday, Waterloo travelled to St. Catharines to face the Brock Badgers. After an almost three hour delay due to wet field conditions, the two combatants got their first game underway which was changed to a seven inning contest.
The Warriors jumped out to a 9-2 lead in game one heading into the bottom of the 5
th before Brock scored five to cut the lead to just two. The Warriors offence continued their hot bats with four more in their top half of the sixth to pick up the
14-8 win.
Kyle Thalheimer (Richmond Hill) was an absolute beast at the plate with four hits, six RBI's and one run scored.
Joshua Sabino (Brampton) also had a good day at the plate with three hits while
Alexandre Lojko (Barrie), Clouthier and
Donald Smith (Waterloo ) each had two.
Scott Robbins (Oakville) earned the win in relief action.
Game two saw both teams struggling to find their bats before Brock exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the 4
th, as the home side went on to win 8-2.
Jasper Henry (Sunnyvale, CA) was given the loss allowing all eight runs.
Waterloo will now turn their attention to their home opener on Saturday as they welcome Guelph for a double dip starting at 12pm followed by two more home games on Sunday against York. The games will be played at Jack Couch Park at 12pm and 4pm.
