It is always a great day for a baseball team when they are hitting and scoring. It is an especially great luxury for a manager when the bottom hitter in his lineup bas a big day. The Colorado Cannons got exactly that from catcher and eighth place hitter Keaton Heyneman. He and starting pitcher Brady Mello each had big days. They led the team to a 9-5 victory over Batters Box on Monday.

The Cannons were looking to get things going as they currently sit in second to last place in the league. Going into the game, the Cannons were confident about their hitting.
“All the dudes are putting the ball in play, so we’re hitting the ball that’s good,” said Cannons outfielder  Austin Medina. “I just think we need to lock it down on the mound and we’re gonna be a pretty solid squad.”

While the team did strike out 16 times in the game, they also had a series of well-disciplined at-bats. They paid off in a two out rally in the top of the first. With two outs three consecutive hitters walked. This was followed by an error committed by Batters Box catcher Dylan Jutze that allowed two runs to score. The Cannons would score three more runs, two of which were scored on an RBI double by Katon Heyneman to start out his big day at the plate. Heyneman got another RBI double in the fifth for his third RBI on the day.

The Cannons also got what they were looking for on the mound from starter Bray Mello. Throwing sidearm he initially struggled with his control, walking the first two batters he faced. But he made a quick recovery and managed to pound the strike zone for the remainder of the game.

“The first two batters of the game I walked one, hit one and then I kinda locked back in and figured ou,t ‘I just gotta let them do their thing again, just throw strikes,” said Mello on his  outing.

Mello’s solid six innings of work was complimented by the support of nine runs on ten hits from his team. Throwing strikes did him good as he got fielding support from his defense behind him.

“We just gotta keep riding momentum, get good starts out of our pitchers and just keep putting up nine runs,” Mello added on the team moving forward. “Anytime we put up nine runs you should win a ballgame.”

The Cannons will need to continue to put up similar run-scoring and pitching  performances  in order to get back into the competitive mix of teams in the 2021 Mile High Collegiate Baseball League season.