BYRNES PITCHES THE OCAA’S FIRST EVER PERFECT GAME
October 8, 2014
ETOBICOKE, Ont -- The Humber Hawks Men's Baseball team bounced back against the Seneca Sting on Wednesday night at Connorvale Park, earning a 16-0 victory on the heels of an incredible performance from starting pitcher James Byrnes.
Byrnes earned a complete game shutout, throwing a perfect five frames; the Hawks have now won eleven of their past thirteen games, and sit comfortably in second in the OCAA's Western Division.
The first inning saw starting Byrnes make light work of the Sting's offense, retiring the side quickly. The bottom of the first had the Hawks jump out quickly to a five run lead after connecting on four consecutive base hits.
In the top of the second, Byrnes strong pitching continued to frustrate the Sting as he made it look easy by retiring the Seneca batters in order. In the bottom of the inning, the Sting's defence make a few nice plays, holding the Hawks scoreless in the inning.
The top of the third saw James stay perfect, shutting down the Sting offense with great efficiency. The Bottom of the inning had Hawk's outfielder Andrew Thomson connect on a two RBI triple to make the score seven to nothing. Minutes later Humber scored off of an RBI single to add another run.
Seneca College's offensive struggles continued as the Byrnes continued to mow them down. In the bottom of the fourth, first baseman Mitch Wilbur hit a two run RBI double making it ten-zip, and minutes later Hawks designated hitter Colin Gingerich hit a two run RBI double to make it twelve nothing.
The game would end 16-0, but the big story was pitcher James Byrnes’ perfect game. It is the first time in the OCAA's history that a perfect game has been thrown, and the timing of Byrnes rounding into form couldn't be better as the Hawks playoff slate approaches.
After the game Byrnes says he had a very unusual way of preparing for the matchup.
"The way I prepared for the game was falling down the stairs, it really woke me today and it helped me to not think about the pressure too much," Byrnes said.
Byrnes says he is going to have to pitch the way he did tonight going forward into the playoffs.
“I’m just going to try and pitch the way I did tonight, hit all my spots and keep changing up my speeds," Byrnes said.
Mitch Wilbur also had a great game making big plays and a handful of RBI's. Wilbur says he prepares for every game the same way and will continue to do so.
"I do the same thing everyday, nothing too special. I just go out there play my hardest and try my best to get the W and it's the same thing I’m going to keep doing moving forward," Wilbur said.
Wilbur says he's not concerned too much about his individual performance and is solely focused on how the team does and is excited to be back in the win column.
"I'm not too focused on how I do it’s just about how our team does, I'm pretty pumped about getting the win and it will help us carry momentum into our next game and hopefully we can finish in second place," Wilbur said.
Wilbur says it's going to take the same kind of performance to win their next game.
"We just have to continue the way we're playing, we've played well against Durham and we just have to make sure we come away with the win," Wilbur said.
