Sox win fifth straight heading into weekend

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – After sweeping a pair of doubleheaders last weekend against Traverse City and Alpena in Great Lakes Baseball League action, the Soo Black Sox continued to roll on Tuesday night as they won their fifth game in four days with a 5-3 victory over the E.U.P. Travellers in Sault, Michigan.

The Sox, who are 7-2 in their past nine games, including a 2-2 record at the Coca Cola Classic, are scheduled to play in the 2005 Delta County Jaycees Tournament in Escanaba.

The win made up for a disappointing 10-9 loss to the Travellers back on June 10 in the Coca Cola Classic Invitational Tournament, held in Sault, Ontario.

Backed by another solid performance from their pitching staff and some key hits, the Sox opened up a 5-1 lead and, despite some anxious moments in the fifth inning, held on for the victory.

Kyle Sayers, who had a tremendous weekend against Traverse City and Alpena at the plate, showed that he can also be relied upon as a key contributor in the pitching department as he scattered six hits over five innings of work, despite having not pitched in roughly a week.

After five solid innings Sayers made way for Bryce Grimard, who picked up the save after pitching the final two innings.

Sox coach Mike Lebel, who filled in for the absent Ryan Johns, commented on the fact that this years Sox team has the opportunity to send any one of a number of players to the mound and be confident in their ability.

"(Joe Yardanoff) our pitching coach and I were talking about that on the way over," Lebel said. "We have the luxury this year, and we've had it in many years, where we have seven or eight guys who can pitch. Sayers is probably our number four guy right now and he can be the number one on a lot of teams. We've got lots of options there (in the pitching department."

Sayers also continued his solid play at the plate from the weekend by stroking a pair of singles and a double in the E.U.P. victory. Offensively, the Sox also got some key hits from the rest of the lineup, including a single and a pair of triples by Jesse Legault, who knocked in two runs, as well as Pat Koski who registered a pair of singles in the game.

"We're very happy (with the way the game went)," Lebel said of the win. "It was a well-played game. I thought we were going to come out of the blocks a lot harder then we did. We started off the first inning and every ball we hit was scorched somewhere and after that things settled down and (E.U.P.) got themselves back in the game."

The Sox will open their tournament schedule in Escanaba on Friday evening when they take on Wisconsin-based Sheboygan at 5:30 p.m.