Coming Back

As I mentioned in last week’s column, I—and to a lesser extent the London Majors—had to bounce back from a desultory outing. The team rectified our poor performance against Ottawa with statement games against Hamilton and a doubleheader against our first place co-conspirators from Barrie.

From a personal standpoint, I didn’t rebound quite so quickly—and with as much dominance—as the rest of the team, but I definitely took a step in the right direction towards getting back to the form I showed in the season opener.

We crushed Hamilton 12-1 on Friday night in a game that quickly turned into a laugher. Our team was out to prove that the lacklustre loss to Ottawa was an aberration and would not be indicative of our play for the rest of the season.

The lopsided score allowed me to get into the game in a low-pressure situation and work on my confidence to attack the strike zone and throw with vigour. I threw the eighth inning when the outcome of the contest was no longer in doubt.

I threw much better than I did in my last two appearances, but still fell short of the success I had in my first start. However, the most important thing about my one inning of relief is that I threw with a confidence that had been lacking previously. My velocity was better than it had been from the mound and I was able to throw good pitches down in the zone.

I was still a little wilder that I’d like to be and I only threw fastballs in Friday’s appearance, but I was emboldened with the uptick in command and control. Plus, my ERA went down, which is always a nice bonus.

There is still a disconnect with my control and velocity from flat ground during warmups and in a game atmosphere. I seem to throw harder and command my tosses more easily while playing catch than I can when facing batters. I need to eliminate that discrepancy. I am on my way to doing so; it’s just going to take some more work.

I’m close to where I need to be. I just need to continue to work hard and the results will come.

The team went into the doubleheader feeling good about our chances and we certainly sent a statement to Barrie that first place is going through London this season. We won the first game 9-1 and won the second 4-3 in a nailbiter that lasted 15 innings.

It was a great sweep by the Majors and gives us a two game lead over the Baycats in the fight for first place in the IBL.

We are heading to Ottawa this weekend for a two game series in our Nation’s Capital. Time for some payback after the hurt they put on us two weeks ago. We’ll be at the midpoint of the regular season when we come back, hopefully still in first place.

5^th Metro News Column