From the Prince George Citizen
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Favourites avoid near-upsets
by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff
Sean O’Brien had mixed feelings about his home run.
O’Brien’s hit barely cleared the centre field fence and helped his St. Thomas Evergreen Centennials avoid an upset at the hands of Newfoundland Impact Signs during Monday afternoon play at the Canadian senior men’s fastpitch championship.
O’Brien’s solo shot at Spruce City Stadium came in the first at-bat in the top of the seventh inning and pulled the Centennials into a 2-2 tie with Impact Signs. St. Thomas, the defending champions, went on to win the game 4-2.
So why were O’Brien’s emotions pulling him in different directions? He’s a Newfoundlander by birth.
“Unfortunately, it was against my home province of Newfoundland,†O’Brien said. “You hate beating your fellow mates, but we got lucky. It’s a good building block for our team. All the boys are pretty excited now.â€
O’Brien connected on a rise ball offered up by Newfoundland pitcher Blair Ezekiel. Later in the top of the seventh, with two out, Chris Jones doubled to centre field and Ezekiel then issued walks to Steve Mullaley and Tyler Lessard. The next batter, Dale Levy, cracked a two-run single to give St. Thomas its first lead of the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Newfoundland couldn’t reply. Leadoff batter Keith Maynard sent a looper into shallow right field, a ball that forced St. Thomas second baseman Lessard to make a great grab. St. Thomas ace pitcher Frank Cox fanned the next two batters — Andrew Evans and Travis Head — to end the game.
Newfoundland, one of the younger teams in this year’s tournament, had taken a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a two-run homer by Ezekiel. St. Thomas responded with a run in the top of the fifth.
The Newfoundlanders, who dropped to 0-2 in the event at that point, were naturally disappointed to lose in the last inning.
“Going into the seventh with the lead, you expect to come out with the win, but there is a reason why they are the defending champs,†said Ezekiel, who gave up nine hits and had four strikeouts.
“We’re not too happy about (our record) so far but this team, we’re capable of pulling out some wins. Despite the lopsided score in the first one (a 14-3 loss to Vancouver on Sunday), we looked at (Monday) for a big start and that’s what we got. The two teams we faced are probably the best two teams here, on paper.â€
The St. Thomas-Newfoundland game was a rematch of last year’s championship final, won 7-1 by St. Thomas. This year’s Newfoundland team is much different, however, with just five returning players. Jones, the St. Thomas shortstop, said the rematch wasn’t on the minds of the players.
“We just took it that they were going to be a tough team,†Jones said. “We didn’t really think at all about the final last year, it was just a win we wanted to have.
“The Newfies, they’re always good hitters. It doesn’t matter who they have, they always swing the bats well.â€
Later Monday, Newfoundland faced the Charlottetown Razzy’s Roadhouse Fawcetts and lost another heartbreaker, 8-7. St. Thomas, meanwhile, took on the Jarvis Merchants and triumphed 8-0.
Comeback win for Grey Sox
The Vancouver Grey Sox, one of the pre-tournament favourites to be crowned Canadian champions, were almost pulled down by the Charlottetown Razzy’s Roadhouse Fawcetts on Monday.
The Fawcetts led 4-1 after three innings but eventually lost 5-4. Vancouver scored twice in the fifth and sixth innings to escape with the victory. Pat Mackintosh played hero for the Grey Sox with a solo home run in the fifth and a two-run shot in the sixth. Steven Langley connected for a solo home run in the second inning for the Fawcetts. Vancouver had nine hits to Charlottetown’s eight. Nick Underhill picked up the win on the rubber and Brian Urquart took the loss.