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Namur Closes the Book on 2008 With a Win

The Namur Angels finished their 2008 campaign with a split of the final weekend with the Mortsel Stars.

In the first game at Mortsel the Angels fell behind early and never mounted a serious comeback challenge in a game that highlighted some of their weaknesses of the past season, scoring runs on offense, and allowing walks and free passes on defense.
The top of the first started well for the Angels. Leadoff man Philip Van Woensel legged out an infield hit and Ronny Heymans followed by lining a single to right. As the Angels have struggled to score this year, Morgan Brown followed with a sacrifice bunt to move the runners along and Jerome Sana made it count went he delivered one run with a single. Unfortunately the inning came to a screeching half one batter later when the Angels hit into a critical double play with only one run to show for their efforts.
Mortsel came right back in the bottom half, using a single, a sac bunt of their own, a walk, and a double to plate two against Adrien Stockart of Namur. In the second it was more of the same as the Stars batted around. Back to back walks followed by a passed ball put the Angels on their heels without a ball being put into play. Stockart did manage to get weakly hit balls to retire the next two, but one run still came in. Then four consecutive singles made the score 6-1 after two innings. While that was all Stockart would allow over 7 innings, it was enough. Michael Harmelink of Mortsel kept the Angels from threatening the rest of the way en route to an 8-1 win and a five game losing streak for Namur continuing.
Offensively, Namur had seven hits, with Van Woensel going 3-4 and Brown going 2-3.

In the final game of the season, Namur at last reversed the unfortunate trend of falling behind and staying behind with a late innings comeback. In the second inning Mortsel got on top with a pair of flair singles putting runners at first and third. The Stars nine-hole hitter dribbled a ball in front of the plate but it created havoc when it was thrown into right field and a run crossed the plate. Erik Hufnagel slammed the door after that, throwing a complete game. He chalked up a season high 15 strikeouts while only surrendering five hits and no earned runs. Namur only had five hits as well, but was assisted by the wildness of Mortsel’s pitchers to push across three runs in the seventh. With one out, Ludovic Geuquet beat out an infield single. Adrien Geuquet followed with a long at bat for a walk and Juny Gressman’s pinch-hitting appearance yielded the same result. With the bases loaded Van Woensel came through with a lined single to center to tie the game, then a pair of wild pitches plated the last two.
Heymans led offensively with a pair of hits and a walk, while Adrien Geuqeut reached base all four times in a variety of ways.

Angels Fumble Away Series

In the second to last series of the season the Angels continued on their second half struggles with some of their worst baseball of the year against the first place Hoboken Pioneers. On Saturday five errors and a near total absence of offense helped the Pioneers to a 6-0 victory. On Sunday three errors and a lack of clutch hits in key situations again killed the Angels in a 6-1 defeat.
Nicolas Migeot deserved a better fate on Saturday as he and Adrien Stokart managed to work through the Pioneers effectively, however their defense was porous behind them. In the first inning the eventual winning run scored courtesy of three errors, the batter reached on a fielding error, advanced two bases on a poor pick-off throw, and scored on a mishandled throw to third base on the same play. The ugliness continued in the Angels oufield with several more runners getting into scoring position and coming around on dropped fly balls and mistakes on reads. On one of the most beautiful days for baseball all season, Namur played its worst.
Offensively Namur was missing as well, recording only two hits, by Ronny Heymans and Morgan Brown.
Sunday was little better. The Angels showed more offensive life in the first inning than they have in weeks by manufacturing a run. Philip Van Woensel led off with a lined single to center field. Ludovic Geuquet sacrificed him into scoring position with a bunt. A balk moved the runner over to third and Brown’s RBI single to center plated the first run of the game. Erik Hufnagel again spun a dandy on the mound, including striking out the side in the second and fourth innings. Hoboken took the lead in the third courtesy of a couple singles. In the fourth they added to it with another run thanks to multiple Angels errors. The Pioneers made it 5-1 in the seventh after working the first two walks of the day off Hufnagel and then moving around on the bases due to yet another error, a couple steals, and a wild pitch.
Hufnagel struck out 13 in seven innings, yielding just the two walks, and hitting one. Offensively, the Angels were only marginally better than Saturday, managing seven hits. Migeot led the way with three.

Angels Can’t Put Together a Win, Drop Two to Merksem

On the weekend the Angels couldn’t quite get their offense, defense, and pitching in synch as they dropped two more games. On Saturday the Angels failed miserably with the bats as evidence of their two week hiatus between games was obvious with rusty swings up and down the lineup. The result was a 5-0 loss despite another stellar outing by Erik Hufnagel who worked seven innings and yielded three runs on three hits while striking out seven and walking three. Louis Dellieu finished up in the eighth for Namur as the Royal Greys reached the final margin. Namur only once managed to get a runner into scoring position when Nicolas Migeot singled in the second and was sacrificed over by Adrien Geuquet, unfortunately no Angel would advance further on a slow day offensively for Namur.

On Sunday the Angels offense appeared to be reinvigorated, but the Angels were let down by their gloves as they committed five errors, with four factoring directly in the scoring of all of Merksem’s runs and prolonged innings for Migeot who pitched a good game but was hurt by the unearned runs. The final margin was 11-6, though until the 8th inning it was a close back and forth match. Namur immediately improved on Saturday in the first inning when Ronny Heymans and Erik Hufnagel reached on walks and were moved over by Morgan Brown, both runners were stranded in scoring position, but Namur would continue to apply pressure all day. In the third the Royal Greys got on the board following a lead-off bunt single and then a misplayed fly ball in the outfield that resulted in a run crossing the plate and the runner advancing all the way to third with one out. Another single made the score 2-0 as Namur’s defensive lapses began to take their toll. The Angels answered right way in the bottom half of the inning to even the tally. With one out, a hustling Heymans reached on a dropped third strike and Hufnagel followed with a double just inside the third base bag. Brown knocked in the first run and Jerome Sana picked up the tying RBI. In the fifth, the bad omen of a leadoff walk set the stage for an unfortunate inning. The next batter attempted to sacrifice bunt, but pushed the ball directly back to the mound for a potential double play, unfortunately the ball snuck past Migeot’s glove and both runners reached. The next batter did the same but this time Namur managed to get the out at first base. A sacrifice fly delivered one run and a two run homer put Merksem up 5-2. In the sixth the Angels showed some fight and plated two more. Three consecutive hits started the frame from Juny Gressman, Adrien Geuquet, and Ludovic Geuquet. The snake-bit Angels then had some of the wind taken from their sails by grounding into a 5-2-3 double play to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with two outs. The bit clutch hit came off the bat of Cedric Nauts who delivered two runs with a lined single to left field. In the seventh another bad omen started trouble for the Angels. The number 9 hitter was drilled with a pitch to kick-start the inning and a single and sacrifice fly later it was 6-4. The 8th inning proved to be the back-breaker though. Another leadoff free pass spelled trouble. An infield hit and another hit-batter loaded the bases. The Angels appeared to catch a break when a potential 5-2-3 double play of their own materialized, but after some miscommunication and a misplayed throw two runs scored, runners stood at 2nd and 3rd and no outs were recorded. The next batter flicked a single up the middle to plate both runners. Another run later scored on a fielder’s choice grounder that Namur couldn’t quite turn an inning ending 5-4-3 double play on. Despite the frustration the Angels came out swinging in the bottom of the 9th with one out. Hufnagel and Brown drilled consecutive doubles to left and with two out Gressman lined an RBI single to left. The small rally would end there however.

The Angels collected 10 hits with multi-hit days coming from Hufnagel, Brown, and Gressman. Migeot deserved a better fate on the mound as he went 8 innings yielding 11 hits but due to the 5 critical errors was forced to throw many more pitches than he should have. Dellieu finished up again, this time getting a 1-2-3 inning.

Angels Split Again

The Namur Angels saw their playoff chances slip further when they only managed a split with the last place Borgerhout Squirrels. On Saturday in Borgerhout the Squirrels took advantage of the inability of Namur pitching to find the strike zone to score five runs in the second inning on only one hit en route to a 9-3 victory. On Sunday, Erik Hufnagel’s 13 strikeouts and seven Borgerhout errors ensured a 6-1 Angel triumph.

On Saturday, the Angels’ offense could never really get a rally going, thanks in part to hitting into four double plays that terminated rallies all day long. The Angels also suffered from losing several runners on plays at the plate. The game-changing moment came early however. In the second inning, Angels’ pitching issued five walks and hit an incredible three batters in one inning, the Squirrels chipped in with one hit to record five runs. The Angels looked to be right on target in responding in the third inning. Adrien Stockart led off and reached on a throwing error. After a strikeout, Ludovic Geuquet dropped down a bunt single to put two aboard. Morgan Brown plated the first run of the day as Stockart came around on a single to center. The inning that had begun with promised ended quickly however as Juny Gressman’s fly ball to center turned into an inning-ending double-play when Geuquet was erased at the plate. Borgerhout got right back to scoring in their half of the inning courtesy of an error, two walks, and three hits to go ahead 7-1. In the fifth Namur clawed one back as Ronny Heymans led off with a walk. Ludovic Geuquet and Morgan Brown followed with singles to load the bases with nobody out. Namur unfortunately came away with only one run after grounding into a double play and striking out. In the seventh Ludovic Geuquet again singled to lead things off, and for the third consecutive trip through the order, Brown followed with a hit. After two strikeouts failed to advance the runners, they moved up on stolen bases. Hufnagel managed to deliver one with a single to right, but a pop out would strand another runner in scoring position. Borgerhout achieved the final margin in the bottom of the eighth with a two run home run.
Namur finished with a respectable 13 hits (while yielding 10), but the four double plays were crucial. Ludovic Geuquet and Brown each collected four hits, while Hufnagel, and Adrien Geuquet each had two.

On Sunday in Namur, Hufnagel never gave the Squirrels a chance, ending the game by pitching to just four batters over the minimum. He yielded only four hits and walked one, while hitting two, and striking out 13. He picked off a batter, one was retired stealing, and he induced a 1-2-3 double play to escape from a bases loaded situation in the seventh. Offensively, Namur got on the board in the first frame. Heymans walked and was thrown out at the plate on Brown’s double off the wall in left-center. Brown scooted over to third on the throw and came around one batter later when the second baseman threw away Jerome Sana’s inning-ending grounder. After two singles by Gressman and Adrien Geuquet, Sana too would cross home. In the third Sana would walk, Gressman would single and Adrien Geuquet would sacrifice them over. Ludovic Geuquet plated one with a single while Cedric Nauts’ fielder’s choice brought in the other. The Angels however would again end the inning with the bases loaded. In the fourth an ugly inning featuring several errors allowed Brown to come home on a throwing error by the shortstop. The final margin was achieved in the seventh when again the Borgerhout defense failed. Philip Van Woensel was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on an errant pick-off throw. He stole third and then came home when the catcher’s attempt to third base was wide and kicked into left field.
On the game Borgerhout committed seven key errors to help the Namur offense. The Angels managed seven hits and seven walks as well.

Yet again Namur finds itself the victim of scheduling with a week off before playing again against the second-place Merksem Royal Greys.

Braves and Angels Split Final Matchup

The Namur Angels and Brasschaat Braves split their final series of the season with each other to finish the season series even at 3 wins each. In the Saturday game at Namur the Angels plated 11 runs and rode a final outstanding pitching performance from Caleb Calarco to victory. On Sunday in Brasschaat the outcome was in doubt for the entire game before Brasschaat eventually held onto a 6-4 victory.

The Angels managed to plate runs with ease all day on Saturday, although one would have sufficed. Calarco, who will be returning to the United States this week to assume a job as a school teacher, kept the Braves off the bases as he only allowed three hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Offensively, Calarco kickstarted things on that side as well. With one out in the first inning he bashed a triple to right-center field and Morgan Brown followed by knocking an RBI single to right. In the second inning Ronny Heymans led off with a bunt single and Ludovic Geuquet moved him up with a sacrifice bunt. Nicolas Migeot then followed by depositing his first home run of the year just inside the foul pole down the right field line for a 3-0 lead. The third inning really put Namur comfortably out in front. Calarco led things off again with a single. This time it was Brown driving an RBI triple to deep center field. After a walk, a fielder’s choice grounder to short by Florian Lekeu plated Brown. Heymans singled again and Geuquet delivered Lekeu with a double. Migeot singled in both runners to finish with four RBIs on the day. Adrien Stockart doubled and Philip Van Woensel hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Migeot before the inning finally ended after the Angels tacked on six. It wasn’t until the bottom of the sixth that Namur scored again however. Brown got things going with one out by singling to left field. Juny Gressman singled as well and Lekeu reached on an error. Heymans collected his third single and two RBIs to cap the scoring.

Brown and Heymans each had three of Namur’s 14 hits. Calarco, Geuquet, and Migeot all had two each.

On Sunday despite getting off to a good start, Namur could not keep up the pace and the Braves came from behind to win. In the first inning Van Woensel led off with a single but was then caught stealing. Calarco followed with a single as well and Brown walked. Gressman hit an inning-ending double-play ball to short that was thrown away and Calarco came into score while Brown scooted around to third. After a strikeout, Gressman was picked off of first base but managed to get into a rundown that allowed Brown to scramble in from third. Brasschaat got on the board as well in the first without a hit as four walks pushed a free run home. Namur struck again in the second as Heymans led off with a walk and was pushed around to third on bunts by Cedric Nauts and Adrien Geuquet before scoring on an error. The Braves immediately pulled level however as three hits plated two runs. They kept going in the third with a walk and a pair of hits bringing home two. In the fourth the Braves got their sixth and final run following a double and a Namur error. Adrien Stockart cruised over the last four frames yielding just a single hit, but the damage had been done.
Chris Geschwendler kept Namur down with an assortment of breaking balls though the Angels would make things interesting. In the sixth inning Heymans reached on a two base error on a missed catch by the left fielder and then covered the remaining two bases courtesy of wild pitches. Then in the eighth the Angels had a golden opportunity to draw level. Nauts had a one out hit and Geuquet reached on an error. Stockart sacrificed them over and Van Woensel walked to fill the unoccupied base. Calarco, already riding a two-hit game came to the plate in his final Angels at-bat, but unfortunately grounded out to end the frame.

Angels' Dellieu earns the Best Pitcher Award at the Euroqualifier Junior

Louis Dellieu, the 18-year old member of the Namur Angels' pitching staff, hes done his part in helping the Belgian junior National team rejoin the Pool A, for the 2010 European Cup in Bonn.

Dellieu pitched a perfect relief inning against Austria on Tuesday, striking out 1 of the 3 batters he faced.

Today, in his start against Switzerland, he allowed only 2 hits and 3 walks while recording 9 strike-outs through 5 innings of work as Belgium crushed Switzerland 23-0.

Belgium (4-0) needs one more to secure a spot on next year's Euro Cup. They should face Great Britain (2-1) in the finals if the latter can win against Sweden tonight.

Angels’ Slide Continues Against Stars

A week that began with a LFBBS Cup Title for Namur ended with the Angels on a four game slide after being swept for the second time this week. Namur dropped to fourth in the standings and are currently on a six-game losing streak within the league.
On Saturday at Namur, Mortsel whipped the Angels 13-2, while a pitcher’s duel on Sunday yielded a tight 3-2 Stars victory.

Saturday’s game began with Mortsel scoring two in the first on an RBI single and a groundout. In the second Namur managed to get on the board following a Ludovic Geuquet double. A groundout moved him to third and a wild pitch brought him home. In the fourth a home run put Mortsel up 3-1. That was only a prelude to a disastrous fifth inning for Namur and their starter Adrien Stockart. Six Mortsel runners crossed the plate before an out was recorded. Eventually that number would reach 10, capped by a Grand Slam down the left field line. In the fifth inning the Stars used 8 hits, a walk, and 3 Namur errors to put the game out of reach. Namur managed to get one back in the 7th on a Philip Van Woensel double and Juny Gressman single, but that only made the final score slightly better at 13-2.

Namur again continued their recent struggles at the plate, managing only five hits via Van Woensel, Morgan Brown, Gressman, and a pair by Geuquet. Van Woensel and Caleb Calarco also walked twice each.

Sunday was a better baseball game with Namur’s Erik Hufnagel locking up with Mortsel’s Michael Hamerlink in a duel of Americans. Both pitchers worked complete games and recorded 14 strikeouts each as only one batter for each team avoided striking out.
Mortsel got out early to a 2-0 lead in the second inning starting with a strikeout of the first batter that turned sour when the ball got away on the third strike and allowed the runner to reach. After a strikeout, a walk moved runners to first and second before the third strikeout of the inning (but only the second out). A single loaded the bases before another single drove home two. In the top of the next inning the Angels countered with a single run of their own. Van Woensel kicked it off with a single to center and then stole second. Brown lined a single to center that Van Woensel had to hold up on leaving runners on the corners. Gressman then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field.
The K’s kept coming on both sides, knocking down batters in bunches. In the fifth, the Stars plated the eventual winning run with two outs. Following a pair of strikeouts by Hufnagel, Mortsel managed three consecutive hits to plate the third run. In the seventh they threatened again, but the 14th and final strikeout by Hufnagel left the bases loaded. In the ninth, the Angels showed some life again. Geuquet led off with a walk and Florian Lekeu laced a single down the line and off the third baseman’s glove. A foul popup brought Stockart to the plate. He grounded into a fielder’s choice that forced Lekeu, but brought Geuquet home. That was it for Namur however and the comeback was finished.

Namur again was anemic at the plate, finishing with just four hits while striking out 14 times. Van Woensel had a pair of hits and a walk while Brown and Lekeu added the other two.

Namur tries to right the ship next weekend against the Brasschaat Braves.

Angels Drop two to Pioneers; 3-0 and 3-0

Despite a pair of outstanding pitching performances from Nicolas Migeot and Caleb Calarco, the Angels fell at the hands of the league-leading Hoboken Pioneers twice this week by the score of 3-0. The Pioneers themselves also received excellent complete game performances from Kenny Van Den Branden and Terence Antonacci to shut out the Angels offense on the week.

In game one on Tuesday night at Hoboken the game was scoreless into the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth a single by the Pioneers number 9 hitter opened the inning, and after the leadoff man fouled off a two-strike bunt attempt, the following hitter punched a weak single to left, and he was followed by a clean single to center to plate the eventual winning run. The 4 and 5 hitters were retired on fly-outs to strand runners at first and third. In the seventh the top of the order came through with a stolen base following a single to move into scoring position before coming around on a double, and again Migeot induced two fly-outs from the middle of the order to strand another runner in scoring position. In the 8th the Pioneers capped the scoring by slipping another run across.
The Angels offense only managed to notch four hits on the evening and only drew two walks, never getting a runner to third base. Morgan Brown had two hits and a walk, while Adrien Stockart and Adrien Geuquet each also had a hit.

In game two on Thursday night at Namur the scoreless pitcher’s duel lasted even longer as the sun headed toward the horizon. It was scoreless through seven innings before Hoboken pushed two across. Caleb Calarco got the ball for the Angels and again put forth a quality start. Between the first and third innings he struck out five Pioneers in a row en route to an 11-strikeout game. Unfortunately, Calarco was also charged with nine-walks, some on agonizingly close pitches as he worked around the zone all evening.
In the fourth Calarco worked around a pair of walks by picking off one runner and then inducing a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. In the sixth two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out, but another punchout and a soft liner to short ended the frame. A leadoff walk in the seventh was erased by a 1-6-3 double play. In the 8th however there was no escape. A pair of walks sandwiched around a hit loaded the bases with two out. On a close 3-2 pitch a walk forced the eventual winning run home and a soft-single to right plated another. Hufnagel came out of the pen to get a soft roller to short to end the inning. In the 9th however two walks and a single led to Hoboken’s third run.
Angels pitching surrended only six hits, but 11 walks aided the Pioneers’ cause. Offensively the Angels again managed little, only once getting a runner to third base. They had five hits and reached base once via walk and once via a hit batsmen. Ronny Heymans, Calarco, Brown, Stockart, and Florian Lekeu collected hits while Brown and Calarco received free passes courtesy of a walk and HBP, respectively.

The Angels take on the Mortsel Stars this weekend.

Young Angels get international

This Summer, Angels will travel all around the world to take their game to a higher level.

The Angels' U16 team will have 10 players who will compete abroad this week.

Eight players will play the Youth Friendship Games in the Netherlands with the LFBBS Blue Devils selection team.
They will face tough competition including selection teams from the US and Netherlands.

Two other cadets will travel to Japan on the EBCA selection team to take part to the Nankyu Junior Baseball World Championship in Tokyo where they will compete with teams from Japan, Chinese Taipei, Mexico, Australia, Singapore and the USA.

In the U19 category, Louis Dellieu will leave to Sweden with the Junior national team on Monday to take part to the Qualifier European Championship Juniors where they will face Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria and Sweden.