The Battalion were going into hostile territory on Tuesday night as they travelled to Kingston to face the 1st ranked Ponies. The last time the Battalion made the trek down the 401 it was a heated affair with 2 bench clearing altercations. Ponies ace Derek Howe was on the mound for that game, and once again took the mount in game 1.

The Battalion countered with their own ace, Josh Soffer, it what turned out to be an all-time pitchers duel.

Both pitchers were on from the start. After 4 innings, both pitchers had faced the minimum. Soffer had recorded 7 strikeouts through 4, while Howe had 5.

The Ponies finally got their first base runner in the 5th inning on a leadoff double by James Hornby. Mike Drzazga tried to bunt him over on the next pitch but Soffer made a great play coming off the mound to get Hornby trying to advance to 3rd.

The top of the 6th inning was where the Battalion finally broke through. It looked as if Howe was going to get another 1-2-3 inning, but with 2 strikes and 2 outs he hit Josh Jones in the back. Kyle Craig was then able to drive his second single of the game to right center, advancing Jones to third. Steve Renaud was up next and battled and eventually hit a high chopper in between 3rd and shortstop. Renaud hustled down the line and forced an errant throw, allowing Jones to score the go ahead run.

The game was far from over however as the Ponies once again got their leadoff man on. After a pass ball, there was a runner on 2nd with no out. Soffer was able to get Devon Burns to pop out to Renaud for the 1st out. Ross Graham then forced a walk to have 1st and 2nd, 1 out, for Jeff Skelhorne-Gross. Soffer was able to induce a groundball to 2nd, where Matt MacIntyre alertly tagged the runner. He was then able to get Derek Mack to fly out to left field to end the threat.

After another quick inning by Howe, Soffer took the mound looking to preserve the win. Once again the Ponies were able to get their leadoff runner on, this time with a single from Hornby. After failing to get the bunt down, Drzazga was able to do one better by lining a single to right field. Chris Garrison was then able to redeem his earlier 2 strikeouts with a perfect bunt single down the line. It was now bases loaded with no out. Centerfielder Matt Mills was up and promptly hit a fly ball to rightfield, Josh Jones was able to catch it on the run and fire a missile to homeplate, doubling up the pinch runner James Carter at the plate. Soffer finished off his incredible game by getting a broken bat ground ball to Renaud to end the game.

The win gives the Battalion a 1-0 series lead with a chance to advance to the finals on Wednesday.

WP: Soffer (2-0)
LP: Howe (0-1)