Despite inclement weather suspending their Saturday action, the Warriors had a productive second week of OUA action collecting a win in just two completed games. It was more of the same for the Warriors whose deep lineup continues to put pressure on their opponents with piles of walks and the lineup depth necessary to drive those runners in. Things on the mound were equally productive, allowing just 17 runs on 17 hits throughout the weekend in their completed games.
 
Evan Morrison (Sebringville/) set the tone for the Warriors in his second home start on Saturday. His only blemishes came in the second inning when Guelph collected a pair of singles before drawing their only walk against Morrison to load the bases with no outs.  Morrison skillfully induced a double play followed by a pop-out to second baseman Mateo Roque (Guelph/) to end the inning and cap the Gryphons at just two runs.
 
Back out the pitch in the third, Evan nearly accomplished one of baseball's most prestigious feats: An immaculate inning. Morrison struck out his first two opponents on six pitches before getting ahead 0-1 when a curveball earned a questionable ball one call. Morrison went on to strike out the side, getting his third batter to whiff on the fifth pitch of the at-bat.
 
Spencer Voisin (Kitchener/) and Nate Snider got the Warriors rolling with back-to-back walks in the fourth, setting the table for leadoff man Varun Kuo (Mississauga/) who reached on an error while caching Voisin and sending Snider to third. An error that would prove costly for the Gryphons, when a wild pitch allowed Snider to score the Warriors' second run to tie the game. 
 
The Warriors struck to pull ahead as soon as they got the chance. Stefan Mielzynski (Burlington/) led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk and later came around to score on an error off the bat of Mateo Roque (Guelph/).
 
A perfect sixth inning would be Evan Morrison's (Sebringville/) last. His dazzling performance (1 ER, 2 R, 7 Ks, 1 BB) in his second start this season came just three days after being awarded the Canadian Baseball Guru's Ohtani Award for the week's most outstanding two-way player. Morrison left with his Warriors up three to two, yielding to Jacob English (London/) who completed the seventh before the Gryphons stormed back to pick up three in the top of the eighth when the game was suspended as rain began to fill Jack Couch Park. The game will resume at a later date.
 
Sunday was just that as Saturday's clouds parted and the Warriors played out two games on the road in Guelph. After Jorden Carthy (Elmira/) held Guelph scoreless through one, Waterloo opened the scoring in the top of the second with a six-run offensive explosion. Mackenzie Strong led the inning off with a single and the Gryphons were unable to retire a single Warrior until the seventh plate appearance of the inning when Evan Morrison (Sebringville/) picked up an RBI groundout, the Warriors' fourth run. Waterloo would pick up another pair of runs on a Liam Sutherland (Stoney Creek/) RBI single and an expertly executed delayed steal of home by baserunning baron Varun Kuo (Mississauga/) before the inning was through.
 
Guelph answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame when a triple came around to score before Carthy shut the Gryphons down with his first strikeout of the afternoon.
 
The Gryphons would dominate the next three innings, scoring at least a pair in each while the Warriors were shut out until the sixth. After collecting three in the third, the fourth inning brought more trouble for the Warriors when the Gryphons led the inning off with a pair of singles and a walk followed by an error that allowed two runs to score, tying the game. Jorden Carthy (Elmira/) fired back with consecutive strikeouts before getting a ground ball to finish the inning. He would leave the game after four innings allowing seven hits, five walks, six runs (four earned) while striking out four.
 
The fifth inning would be another quiet one for the Warriors before they passed the baton onto Justin Robinson (Victoria/) who was forced to pitch out of trouble after surrendering a walk, allowing Guelph's Nick Jaeggin to reach on error (allowing a run to score) and hitting a batter. Robinson responded by inducing a ground out, a swinging strikeout and a fly out to end the inning, limiting the damage to three runs.
 
The sixth inning arrived with a reenergized Warriors' offence. With one out, Varun Kuo (Mississauga/) and Evan Morrison (Sebringville/) drew consecutive walks before Ryan Kehoe (Whitby/) was hit to load the bases. Liam Sutherland's (Stoney Creek/) patience walked in a run bringing the Warriors within two. Mackenzie Strong slugged a deep fly out to allow Morrison to score and Kehoe to advance to third bringing the Warriors within one.
 
The Gryphons responded with their own pair of runs in the bottom half, tagging both Robinson and leftie Trevor Smith (Oakville/) for a run each. Robbie Price (Guelph/) came on in relief to induce a pair of batted balls to close the book on the sixth inning, with Guelph leading 11 to eight.
 
The Warriors were unable to muster more than walk in the seventh before Price returned to the hill for the bottom of the inning. He made just one mistake, his second pitch to Gryphons catcher Robby Gauthier who sent the ball over the right-field fence to make it 12 to eight.
 
The Warriors managed to score one final run in the eighth inning when Mackenzie Strong drove in Liam Sutherland (Stoney Creek/) who reached third on a triple. However, their luck ran out in the ninth, when they failed to capitalize on a leadoff single from Tyler Sayers (Sault Ste. Marie/), surrendering a 12-9 loss to the Gryphons.
 
Shortly thereafter, game two's box score donned identical three-run first innings. The Warriors manufactured their runs leveraging a pair of RBI singles and a Tyler Sayers (Sault Ste. Marie/) groundout that scored Strong. In the home half, OUA veteran Stephen Gade (Guelph/) took the hill to make his season debut for the Warriors. Guelph followed the Warriors' blueprint notching three singles off Gade to tie the game at three.
 
After a scoreless second, Guelph led off the bottom of the third with a double before Gryphon Arthur Kowara hammered a two-run shot into Guelph's bullpen to put the Gryphons up two runs.
 
Their lead wouldn't last long, as the bats quickly picked Gade up. Stephen Whalen (Heidelberg/) reached on an error before Liam Sutherland (Stoney Creek/) struck a single. Alex Seelman (Georgetown/) picked up his first RBI as a Warrior with a sacrifice fly to score Whalen. Then, all with two outs, Waterloo opened the floodgates with a single and back-to-back doubles by Varun Kuo (Mississauga/), Evan Morrison (Sebringville/) and Liam Sutherland (Stoney Creek/), respectively, to put the Black and Gold on top seven to five.
 
Stephen Gade (Guelph/) would continue to pitch another two innings to go a total of five, allowing just two earned runs, striking out seven and limiting the Guelph bats to seven hits and two walks. Nick Levinski came on to shutout the Gryphons in the final two frames, striking out three and allowing just two batters to reach (hitting one, and intentionally walking another after falling behind 3-0) securing the Warriors' fourth win of the season.
 
The Warriors will hit the field again this week for a pair of mid-week non-league games against Laurier (3-5) before returning to league action on the weekend for a home and home series against the Brock Badgers (5-3) in St. Catharines on Saturday and in Kitchener at Jack Couch Park on Sunday. They will look to improve their 4-2 record before heading into the OUA regionals the following weekend.