Kaiserslautern's Bryant Lokey fires a pitch to record his fourth strikeout in two innings against the Lakenheath Lancers on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at RAF Feltwell, England. (Kyle Alvarez/Stars and Stripes)
RAF FELTWELL, England – At the most basic level, baseball is about someone pitching a ball and someone else trying to hit it.
But when it got past that concept Saturday – what happens when someone hits the ball – the Kaiserslautern Raiders generally came out on the better end of the Lakenheath Lancers.
Helped by a dozen Lakenheath errors, Kaiserslautern swept a doubleheader 13-6, 9-4.
“We’re really happy with our pitching performance today,” Raiders coach Justin Bates said. “We’re happy to see them come out, throw strikes and get ahead of hitters. That leads to outs.”
Or at least it’s supposed to. Kaiserslautern took a 12-0 lead in the top of the fourth thanks to some timely hitting and some Lancers’ errors. But Lakenheath then scored six times of its own using the same formula.
Austin Johnson’s two-run single with the bases loaded keyed the rally, though the Lancers couldn’t get any closer.
Lancers coach Gabe Feletar said he liked what he saw of his team not giving up after early mistakes.
“It’s easy to feel down when you’re behind, but we’ve been teaching our kids to keep their heads up because games are not over until they’re over,” Feletar said. “That being said, we’re really happy with our pitchers. They threw strikes and kept us in it …”
Kaiserslautern starting pitcher Trygg Bredlow and Lakenheath’s Johnson both frequently found the strike zone, with Bredlow throwing 23 strikes out of 47 pitches over three innings and not giving up an earned run. Johnson fired 47 strikes out of his 87 pitches, but couldn’t keep the Raiders off the scoreboard, thanks in part to some shaky support behind him in the field.
Lakenheath's Austin Johnson throws a strike against Kaiserslautern in a game Saturday, April 29, 2023, at RAF Feltwell, England. (Kyle Alvarez/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern’s Braydon Lokey hits a double in the left center gap against the Lakenheath Lancers on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at RAF Feltwell, England. (Kyle Alvarez/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath Lancers' Allen Brimmer fields a ground ball at third and throws to second for the force out against the Kaiserslautern Raiders on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at RAF Feltwell, England. (Kyle Alvarez/Stars and Stripes)
After Kaiserslautern’s five errors helped the Lancers gain some momentum in the first contest, however, the Raiders had a better showing in the field in the second game – only committing two errors.
Lakenheath, however, still struggled in the field, committing seven errors in the second game.
Despite this, the Lancers still kept it closer than the opening game with some timely hitting, cutting the Raiders’ lead to 7-4 in the top of the fifth. But Kaiserslautern scored twice in the bottom of the inning and then closed the game out.
Again, both starting pitchers found the strike zone often. Kaiserslautern’s Braydon Lokey tossed 27 strikes in 49 pitches. Relievers Philip Stacey and Bryant Lokey combined to strike out six batters in the final three innings. Only four of the runs that Lancers starting pitcher Matthew Brown gave up were earned and he threw 51 strikes in 81 pitches.
The two teams have two weekends left of play before participating in the season-ending DODEA-Europe championships May 18-20 in Germany, where they could quite possibly meet again.
