Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

The Mansfield Cubs U15 AA got the bats moving early in their game against the Muskoka Hornets on the diamond in Mansfield on Saturday, July 5.

So far this year, the Cubs have been quiet until the mid-game innings, but in this game they started off early and it paid off.

The Cubs opened the scoring in the second inning, led off by a single from Corey Coe, then followed up with a run batted in to take a 1-0 lead.

Hudson Milliard batted in a run followed by two runs that scored on a hit from Callen Swan to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead in the early going.

They had more success in the third inning when Ty Hamilton hit to bring in a run and Blake Pyle blasted one into deep field to bring in two runs.

The Cubs were ahead 8-0 when Brayden Foulds hit to left field to allow another run to score.

The Hornets made it on the scoreboard in the fifth inning with a single run.

In the fifth inning, the Cubs loaded the bases, and another run came in when Mason Fogal got a hit.

The game was called on the 10-run mercy rule and the Cubs left the field with a 12-2 win.

Cubs players told the Free Press they thought they played a good game.

“I think getting runs early on really helped us because we couldn't put runs later in the game,” said Ty Hamilton. “We were hitting well. We were hitting line-drives into the field and that helped us score all of our runs.”

Hamilton's teammate Callen Swan said he thought the team came well prepared for the game.

“I think we were well put together today, and we came to play early,” Swan said. “We played a good team and we put the runs up early which put the pressure on them. They started making errors and we started scoring. We played a well-rounded, all of us.”

The Cubs will be back on their home diamond in Mansfield on Tuesday, July 15, to host the Barrie Baycats. Game time is 6:30 p.m.