The Jerks of Hammond improved to 9-1 on the season after a blowout 10-3 win over the Delta Dodgers on Sunday at Larry Walker Stadium.
The rare interleague matchup pitted two of the premier teams in the LMBA, but the Jerks ran away with the game fairly quickly. Their offence has been firing on all cylinders after a slow start to the season, and they continued to flex their muscles yet again.
Hammond used the fourth (four runs) and fifth (five runs) innings to turn this contest into a blowout. The lineup had contributions from everyone top to bottom, but the big hits of the afternoon came on a run scoring double by Ernie Williams and a clutch two-out, two-run single by Richard Gauthier.
Brad Lawson earned a walk and his first knock of the season. He provided solid defence behind the dish, saving runs that could have been passed balls.
The Jerks’ defence was the bright spot, with numerous highlight reel catches made in the outfield by Gauthier, Landon Ford and Derrick Hansvall.
Jeff Schmidt (3-0, 1.67 ERA) got the start, and battled through three scoreless frames.
Blair Cumming (4-0, 1.29 ERA) came on in relief and gave up a lone hit over three solid scoreless frames as well, lowering his sparkling ERA in the process.
Rob Gauthier (2-1, 2.10 ERA) was the victim of an error in the field and a few bloop hits in his first inning of relief, but settled down and closed out the game in the next two innings, moving the Jerks on to their fifth straight victory and ninth overall this season.