The Cowichan Valley Mustangs’ power was nowhere to be found on Wednesday night, but a spectacular outing by pitcher Cole Anderson and a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the sixth allowed the team to get past the Nanaimo Buccaneers 1-0 in a midget AAA baseball showdown at Evans Park.
“The big bats were still on mid-season break,” Mustangs manager Tod LeSergent said. “We had to rely on small ball to pull out a win.”
Anderson pitched a complete-game one-hitter with nine strikeouts and four walks. He also took a walk at the plate to load the bases and set the table for the winning run.
Jayden Hamm reached first on a bunt single in the bottom of the sixth, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kale Eddy. A single by Nolan Fothergill and Anderson’s walk loaded the bases for Jake Montague’s squeeze.
“It was an unbelievable play,” LeSergent said. “With the runner going, it looked like we were going to miss out on another chance to score when the pitch came in very low. But Jake did an amazing job getting the bunt down allowing Jayden to come in safely with the game’s only run.”
Hamm finished the game 2-for-3 as the Mustangs out-hit the Bucs 7-1. Dyson Kew went 1-for-1, and Anderson, Fothergill, Riley Windsor and Graedy Hamilton also had one hit apiece.
The Mustangs will head to Aldergrove and Chilliwack for doubleheaders this weekend.
