From the Prince George Citizen
Monday, August 28, 2006

Host team avoids early two-loss hole

by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff

Korrey Gareau showed precisely why he is considered one of the best pitchers in the world.

Sunday night at Spruce City Stadium, the Prince George Black Bears hurler tossed a three-hitter against the Saskatoon Aspen Interior Black Sox to lead the Bears to a 5-4 win. Gareau ended the game with 10 strikeouts, none bigger than his final one. With the tying run standing on third base in the form of Sean Whitten, Gareau fanned Darrell Joy to end the ball game. With the victory, the Black Bears evened their record at the Canadian senior men’s fastpitch championship at 1-1.

Gareau and Joy — who are both on Team Canada’s 35-player list — are also teammates on The Farm Tavern, based in Madison, Wis. Gareau said he had a pretty good idea of how to work to Joy.

“(I threw) a drop ball and then struck him out with a rise ball,” said the 33-year-old Gareau, one of the Black Bears’ key pickup players for the tournament. “He was thinking drop ball and I came up with a rise ball.”

The victory was huge for the Bears, who could not afford to fall to 0-2 on opening day. Earlier Sunday, they blew a lead and lost 9-6 to the Charlottetown Razzy’s Roadhouse Fawcetts.

“We let the first one slip on us, and my duty was to try and get it back even again,” Gareau said.

In the game, Prince George led 1-0 after the first inning and put three more runners across home plate in the third for a 4-0 advantage. In the third inning, Darrell Sandback got on base with a bloop single to left field. The next batter, Chad Ghostkeeper, hammered a home run over the centre field fence. Evan Potskin, the next man up, followed suit with his own homer to centre. Both long balls came off Whitten, the Black Sox starter.

“I think it was a drop ball (I hit),” Ghostkeeper said. “It was a hit-and-run. It was one of those nights where the ball looks big to you and you just swing the bat and hit the ball.”

The Black Sox scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth when Chad Hanson — with just the second Saskatoon hit — took a Gareau offering over the fence in centre field. In the bottom of the fifth, the Black Sox pulled into a 4-2 deficit when leadoff batter Dean Holoien hit a homer that stayed just inside the right field foul pole. Later in the fifth, Geoff Evely used his lightning-quick feet to manufacture another Saskatoon run.

The Black Bears got a much-needed insurance run in the top of the seventh when Darrell Sandback, who was 3-for-3 in the game, ripped an RBI triple to centre field that scored pinch runner Kim Dirks. The Black Sox got one back in their half of the seventh but Gareau shut them down after that.

The Black Bears outhit the Black Sox 9-3. Whitten and Holoien, who came to the rubber in the fifth inning, combined for five strikeouts.

Today, the Black Bears have just one game, an 8 p.m. matchup against their provincial rivals, the Vancouver Grey Sox.

“We’ve played each other lots,” Ghostkeeper said. “It’s probably going to go down to last hit wins the game. Hopefully, that’s us.”

Citizen staff

Action from Sunday’s opening day at the Canadian Senior Men’s Fastpitch Championship, which runs through Sunday at Spruce City Stadium:

St. Thomas Evergreen Centennials 6
Stony Plain Twiliters 0

The defending champions rushed out in a strong way, scoring all their runs via the long ball and riding the complete-game performance of hurler Frank Cox in a shutout victory over the Alberta representative.

Outfielder Daly Levy of St. Thomas fired the first shot, a solo blast to right centre. Shortstop Chris Jones took a Darrell Tilley pitch over the fence in centre field for a three-run improvement, and first baseman Tim Macumber added a two-run shot to complete the scoring.

St. Thomas (1-0) will face Newfoundland (11:30 a.m.) and Jarvis (6 p.m.) today, while Stony Plain (0-2) has but one game, a 1:30 encounter with Saskatoon.

Saskatoon Aspen Interior Black Sox 3
Jarvis Merchants 0

The Black Sox, the 2004 national champions, began their quest to reclaim the title in fine style. Pitchers Sean Whitten and Dean Holoien combined for the shutout, Whitten dominating Jarvis hitters for the first six innings. Offensively for Saskatoon, Brad Twordik connected for an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning. His hit scored Darrell Joy, who started the game with a leadoff single. Jason Hill then bashed a solo home run over the centre field scoreboard in the second inning and Jimmy Climenhaga had an RBI single in the third.

Saskatoon (1-1) faces the Stony Plain Twiliters at 1:30 p.m. today. Jarvis (1-1) will be on the field at 6 p.m. against St. Thomas.

Vancouver Grey Sox 14
Newfoundland Impact Signs 3

Vancouver catcher Darren Box and outfielder Scott Newitt gave quick notice that the bats were on fire, slamming home runs in the first inning en route to a 16-hit, five-inning drubbing of Newfoundland.

An eight-run second inning gave Vancouver starter Nick Underhill more than enough cushion. Jeff Wilson, a pickup from Toronto, took the loss for Newfoundland.

Jarvis Merchants 8
Stony Plain Twiliters 0

In a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule, the Jarvis Merchants defeated the Stony Plain Twiliters 8-0 late Sunday night. The Merchants (1-1) scored three times in the third inning and put five runs across the plate in the fourth. Ryan Thompson hit two home runs for Jarvis while Ian Fehrman, Brad Robinson, Allan Phibbs and Matt Lyon also went deep for the Merchants. Scott Wagar was the winning pitcher while Mike Tilley took the loss. The Merchants outhit the Twiliters 10-3.

Stony Plain dropped to 0-2.

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