TRURO, N.S. – The Truro Bearcats and Kentville Wildcats met Sunday at Truro’s TAAC Grounds to square off in a Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League double-header that would go a long way toward determining which team will go on to the playoffs.
It didn’t go Truro’s way.
The Bearcats (7-21) dropped the opener 14-4 but came back in the second outing to post a 16-6 win for a split, but it wasn’t enough to put them in a position to overtake the Wildcats (11-19), with three games left on their schedule.
Regardless, it would have been an uphill battle since those remaining three games are all against league-leading and unbeaten Dartmouth Moosehead Dry (25-0).
The Bearcats host the Dry this Sunday in a double-header with games at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The third game is a make-up contest from Thursday night’s rainout and is in Dartmouth but is yet to be rescheduled.
Game 1:
Wildcats 14
Bearcats 4
The Wildcats were cruising with a 7-1 lead after five innings before Truro rallied for three in the seventh to make it 7-4. A six-run seventh for Kentville thought, which included a grand slam by Dryden Schofield, sealed the deal.
The Bearcats were outhit 12-5 by the visitors. The game ended after eight, due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Adam MacAloney, who took the loss on the mound for Truro, belted a second-inning homer, Adam Lombard had a pair of doubles and scored a run, while John Chapman also had two doubles and drove in a run.
For the Wildcats, Schofield added a single to his grand slam and finished with four runs driven in. Colby Turple and Cody Shrider also belted home runs for Kentville.
Game 2:
Wildcats 6
Bearcats 16
Is their second outing the Bearcats managed to turn the tables on Kentville in a big way, jumping out to a 5-1 lead after the second. The Wildcats closed the gap though and got to within a run as they trailed 7-6 after their at-bat in the eighth. The Bearcats poured it on though, scoring nine times in their half of the eighth and taking the win 16-6 by way of the 10-run mercy rule.
Chapman took the win on the mound, with Jeff Chisholm coming on in relief in the seventh.
At the plate, Lombard had four singles for Truro, to go with an RBI and three runs scored. Matt Mingo drove in four runs with a single and a double and Darson Murphy drove in three, with two doubles and a single. Chisholm and Shawn Mullins each had a pair of singles and two RBIs.
Brad Fuller was losing pitcher for Kentville, who got two doubles, a single and three RBIs from David MacIntyre.
