The age-old dictum of ‘performance starts from the pitchers mound’ was evident against the crosstown rivals the Waterloo Warriors last Wednesday as the Golden Hawks rode strong pitching and a defensive performance to seal a well executed 5-0 win.
Starting pitcher Jordan Petruska had wide shoulders on Wednesday, as he carried the team to an impressive victory. Petruska spun eight shutout innings while only surrendering two hits and three walks. The Golden Hawks defence was superb in backing up Petruska’s effort, allowing no chance for the Warriors to muster any kind of offence.
Laurier head coach Scott Ballantyne believes that both defence and pitching are going to play a paramount role in the continual success of the Golden Hawks season.
“Those two elements of our game will be keys to our success this season,” Ballantyne said.
The Golden Hawks first win of the season was capped off by freshmen Noah Ivanyi, who worked a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the shutout. Ballantyne also made it clear that the first-year talent such as Ivanyi will also be pivotal in the ongoing success of the ball club.
“We’ve had some nice performances from some of our freshman and we’re looking forward to see how they will contribute to our program [this year],” he said.
As stellar as the pitching and defence were for the purple and gold on Wednesday, the offence also managed to work well for the Hawks. Catcher Daniel Apostoli clubbed a run batted in (RBI) double to put the Golden Hawks up 2-0 in the second inning.
Afterwards, in the sixth inning, Adam Shaver belted a two-out single that cashed in two more runs that led to an eventual 5-0 victory.
The Golden Hawks took advantage of the sub-par pitching performance by the Warriors as they issued 11 walks throughout the duration of the ball game that set the table for the Laurier squad.
Following the game against Waterloo, Laurier then took on Humber College in a non-conference game in front of the orientation week crowd at Laurier Brantford on Thursday. The Hawks walked away with a 17-3 win.
Despite two postponed games Saturday due to excessive rain, the Hawks continued their regular season action on Sunday, losing both affairs to Brock and Guelph, 11-9 and 3-1 respectively.
The Golden Hawks have their work cut out for them next week as they battle Ryerson Rams on Sept. 11 and face the Queen’s Gaels in a doubleheader on Saturday Sept. 14, and look to build on their success from Wednesday’s victory.