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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, May 16, 2014 | 24 P L A Y B A L L ! Photos by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver (bottom left photo by Michael Ivanin, Special) Baseball Oakville and Oakville Little League both officially opened their 2014 seasons last weekend. Clockwise from top left, Oakville A's player Ronak Dhindsa fouls off a pitch during a senior rookieball AAA game against Burlington; OLL player James McMenemy gives his mom Daphne flowers on Mother's Day; Erna Vitullo speaks to OLL players in a pre-game ceremony about her battle with cancer; and the Oakville Giants carry a team banner during Baseball Oakville opening ceremonies at Glenashton Park. Buzz youngsters take control in early-season showdown with Halton Hills by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff The Halton Hills Bulldogs had just scored a power-play goal a minute into the third period to take a 7-4 lead. The Oakville Buzz was already coming off a disappointing 9-8 Ontario Lacrosse Association Jr. B loss to the sub-.500 Markham Ironheads three nights earlier. It was the kind of speed bump that can be expected from a young team waiting for its veterans to return from school in the States. But now Oakville risked dropping a second straight game, this time to the team expected to be its biggest rival in the South East Division. The Buzz needed someone to take control. Cue Kew. And Cuomo. "We were feeling a bit down, but we knew what we had to do," said Andrew Kew, who had been held without a point through two periods. "We needed to step up." Kew and Foster Cuomo, who had played together in the Oakville Hawks system since tyke, each scored twice in a span of 5:10 to quickly vault the Buzz into the lead. Hal- ton Hills would score a shorthanded goal with less than five minutes to play to tie the game and force overtime, but the Buzz would not let its third-period efforts go to waste. Just under five minutes into the extra frame, Kew ran his man into the Bulldogs player checking Cuomo. "It gave me the lane," Cuomo said. "I came around the top and took a shot from the outside. It was almost the same way we scored all the other goals." That Cuomo and Kew work so well as a tandem shouldn't come as that much of a surprise. In addition to playing together throughout their minor careers, the two also teamed up to help Ontario win national bantam championships and were also members of the Ontario silver-medallists in peewee. "For players like Andrew, you know their style of play and you can feed off what they're going to do," said Cuomo. "Over the years, you get to know how guys play," added Kew, a Grade 12 high school student at St. Thomas Aquinas. "It's a huge help." The Buzz could say the same of the two long-time teammates. Kew's two goals brought his season total to 19, second best in the league. That's a welcome boost given that last year's top four scorers -- all eligible to return this year -- had played just one game (Eddie Renaud made his season debut against Halton Hills). It's also a dramatic increase for Kew, who had five goals last season. He topped that in a single game this season. After scoring four times in the season opener, he had six goals in a 15-8 win over Newmarket two days later. While Cuomo still has a way to go to top his 15-goal, 43-point rookie campaign, his nine goals in five games ranks second on the team. He's had at least three points in every game this season, including a pair of hat tricks. And with a 4-2 start that has Oakville atop the division, Cuomo believes the Buzz will only get stronger as players return to the fold. "We're a really deep team," said the Abbey Park high school student, who will attend Quinnipiac University next year. "We've got good goaltending, our defence is great and on offence, we've got a lot of guys who can score." The Buzz will host Halton Hills tonight (Friday) at Oakville's Toronto Rock Athletic Centre. Game time is 8 p.m. -- Herb Garbutt can be followed on Twitter @Herbgarbutt