The Thorold Anchors (2-3) broke a three-game losing streak on Tuesday night as they defeated the Merritton Alliance (1-5) by a score of 3-1.

Starter Dan Smith (1-1) fired five scoreless innings scattering five hits, walking none while striking out three Merritton hitters. Smith was able to keep the Alliance attack off balance for most of the game before battling through a tough fifth inning. Merritton stranded two runners when second baseman Adam Bartlett made a nice play on a hot shot off the bat of Matt Brady.

Thorold opened the scoring on starter Andrew D’Angelo (0-2) in the fourth inning when Mark Suntz singled and came around to score on a Dan Smith double. D’Angelo pitched a strong five innings giving up just the one run while striking out seven Anchors.

Thorold tacked on a couple of much needed insurance runs in the sixth inning with a Smith sacrifice fly and a Drew Timlock rbi single.

Mark Suntz came into pitch in the sixth inning and picked up his first career save for the Anchors. Suntz closed out the game pitching two innings giving up one unearned run and striking out one Merritton batter. Impressively, Anchors pitching did not walk a single batter on the evening.

The Anchors were led offensively by Dan Smith who helped his cause on the mound by going 1 for 2 with 2 rbi. Mark Suntz chipped in going 3 for 3 with a run scored and two stolen bases while Max Dobrowolski hammered two doubles to take the NDBA lead with four on the young season.

Thorold is off for the remainder of the week before they host the Welland Pioneers (3-3) next Tuesday night at “The Shipyard” McMillan Park in Thorold. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30pm. As always, fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable item to be entered into a draw for a gift certificate. All donations are in support of Community Care of St. Catharines & Thorold.