Often it's quite the opposite.

With that in mind, Saturday's 7-0 season-opening defeat to the always hard-hitting St. Catharines Metros is hardly cause for alarm.

After all, Milton didn't put up big numbers at the plate through the early part of 2007, but went on to enjoy a prosperous season -- culminating with its first-ever COBA championship.

"The offence usually takes a while to get going, and we did have our chances today," remarked manager George Moore.

The Red Sox's shutout loss certainly wasn't for lack of opportunity.

Despite recording just four hits -- all singles -- they stranded 11 runners on base through the first five innings, including six in scoring position. They left the bases loaded in both the second and third.

Far more opportunistic, the Metros made the most of their biggest break of the afternoon -- when an apparent Milton double play in the top of the third was called just a single out, as first baseman Mike Austen's foot was ruled to be slightly off the bag.

St. Catharines would go on to score five runs on two outs off of starter Ian Zettle, and cruised to victory the rest of the way with some steady pitching and sharp defence.

The Red Sox held their own in that regard with an error-free game that was highlighted with a couple of big plays by Austen -- including a diving snag -- and a nifty on-the-run throw out by third baseman Joe Jurus.

Another bright spot on the day was some solid relief work from a handful of pitchers, who combined to hold the Metros to one run on four hits through the last six frames.

Among those registering their first hits of the season were junior Sox graduate Nick Mazzorato and Carlos D'Costa from Kitchener, a NCAA Division 1 grad who may be able to fill some of the void left by departed outfielders Nick Aalbers and Jeff MacLeod.

Milton is back at Brian Best Park this Saturday to face Brampton. Game time, as always, is 1:30 p.m. Their first road trip of the year is set for Victoria Day Monday versus Erindale.