PLATTSBURGH — The Clinton County Junior Mariners dusted off the cobwebs Saturday and settled for a doubleheader split with the Montreal Titans 17U team at Lefty Wilson Field.
The Titans edged out a 4-3 victory in the opener before the Mariners (6-8) took the second contest by an 8-2 score.
In the first game, the Mariners scored two runs in the first inning and held the lead until Montreal broke loose for four in the sixth.
Clinton County got one of the runs back in the sixth and had two runners on base when the final out was recorded in the seventh.
Quenton Barber, relieved by Andrew Kneussle in the sixth inning, took the loss despite striking out nine and pitching well.
“Barber was motoring right along with five shutout innings,” said Mariners coach Gary Duquette. “But he lost some of his velocity in the sixth — it had been two weeks since he pitched.”
Tanner Rascoe led the Mariners offensively with a single, triple and two RBI. He drove in both Clinton County runs in the first inning. Barber chipped in with a double as the Mariners had six hits in all.
“Those kind of losses kept happening for us,” said Duquette. “We’re not getting the bounces.”
The Mariners, however, rapped out nine hits in the second game and built on a 3-2 lead with four runs in the fifth.
Justin Stevens, Barber and Ryan Meyer accounted for two hits each, with Stevens and Rascoe getting doubles.
“The pitching from the first game to the second wasn’t that much different for them,” said Duquette. “We just swung the bats better, did a good job hitting the ball the other way and advancing runners.”
Rascoe made the lead stand up as he went the distance for the pitching win, striking out eight and allowed four hits. He allowed both Montreal runs in the first inning and nothing after that.
“Rascoe had a good day for us,” said Duquette. “He was in control throughout the game on the mound. Three of the four hits against him were infield hits.”
The Mariners are in Glens Falls today for two games against the Tri-County Eagles.
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Titans 17U 4, Mariners 3
Titans 17U 000 004 0 — 4 9 1
Mariners 200 001 0 — 3 6 2
Lelande and Gadoury. Q. Barber, Kneussle (6) and Altizer. WP- Lelande. LP- Q. Barber. 2B- Q. Barber (M). 3B- Rascoe (M).
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Mariners 8, Titans 17U 2
Mariners 201 040 1 — 8 9 1
Titans 17U 200 000 0 — 2 4 2
Rascoe and Altizer. Grafton, Deaulieu (5) and Molloy. WP- Rascoe. LP- Grafton. 2B- Stevens (M), Rascoe (M).
