Hurricanes complete double header sweep of NorthStars

Cane's stay in contention in confusing league finale.

A delightfully sunny and calm start to September saw the Hurricane's take on the NorthStars in a Saturday double-header. The Cane's came out on top in both games led by veteran hitting from Gordon Ireland and Tom Kelley, some great infield defence and veteran pitching from Cormac Eklof. The NorthStars never gave up but were unable to get enough runners on base to threaten the Cane's.

Game One: Hurricanes 11 NorthStars 4

The Cane's took a couple of innings to get going but once they did the hot bats of Ireland, Kelley and timely hitting up and down the order drove the runs in. Grant pitched a decent game for the NorthStars but shot himself in the foot a little with one too many walks and a couple of hit batsmen. The NorthStars threatened early with a run in the first but Eklof and battery mate Ireland then shut them down on 2 hits until Garett Pearse took over in the 6th. Garrett gave up two runs but showed allot of potential in striking 2 batters out and generally throwing strikes. The story of the game was Gordon Ireland's solid catching. Thrown into action by an injury to veteran Mick Manning, Ireland never let the ball past him and called a great game.

Game Two: Hurricanes 13 NorthStars 2

The Cane's came out of the blocks early on this one, scoring 7 unanswered runs in the first inning and the wonderfully pesky NorthStars tried hard but never fully recovered. The Can'es bats were red hot in the first inning, and they managed to chip away at the NorthStars Gordon to add on a few extra runs as the game progressed. Garrett Pearse showed why hes one of the leading candidates for Y2K rookie of the year with some great at bats, Tom, Gordy and Chris all chipped in with key hits. With Ken Murphy absent and Chris Foy drunk the pitching wes left to Cormac Eklof who went 6 in the first game and a complete game 7 in the second, striking out 7 of the last 10 batters through innings 4-7, including the side in order in the 7th. Again Ireland's catching and pitch selection was immaculate, providing a really solid target behind home plate.

*12MayY2K: Dowload full game one stats (right click this link and select 'save link as')

* The Cane's first game report Hurricanes 10 DiMaggios 5