Courtesy Andy Triest
The Alvinston Indians completed a task that they had not completed since the 2003 season. They won their first St. Thomas & District Major Fastball League Playoff Championship in 6 seasons, their 5th playoff championship in their 14 years in the league.
Alvinston was quick to get the offence going in Game 4 in Fingal versus Shedden on Sunday evening, when with two out and Steve Donald on first base, Theo Metron crushed a two-run home run to put Alvinston in front early.
John Ferguson started on the mound for Alvinston, and surrendered a run to Shedden in the opening inning, when Jeff MacPherson doubled to score Jason Dawdy. With the score now 2-1, Alvinston went away quietly in the second inning, but in the third, they got back to business in a big way. Andy Triest led off the inning for Alvinston with a walk, Joe Triest advanced him to second on a bunt, and then with 2 out, Chris Drew and Theo Metron both earned their way on base via walks, to load the bases. That set the stage for Alvinston’s big first baseman Jeff Ingram who hit a monster grand slam for Alvinston, to extend the lead to 6-1, and give Shedden the crushing blow that would ultimately seal their fate in the series.
Shedden did chip back in the bottom of the third when they counted a run, when Gary Cooke singled home Rob Burns for their second run, and a 6-2 deficit. Ferguson would then shut the door in the fourth for Alvinston, but in the fifth, allowed a couple base runners, and turned things over to Brad Young, who shut the door recording the final 2 outs of the inning, as Shedden had runners on second and third and were threatening to make the game closer, but failed to capitalize.
In the top of the seventh, Alvinston put the final nail in the coffin, when with two out, Scott Smith hit a 2 rbi single that scored both Jamie Shields (who led off with a pinch-hit double) and Theo Metron (who walked), to make the score 8-2. Brad Young would retire Shedden in order in the seventh inning, to make the Alvinston Indians the league’s well deserved playoff champions for 2009.
John Ferguson was the pitcher of record for Alvinston, as he earned the win, with Brad Young pitching effectively in relief to close the game and series out. The series finished with Alvinston defeating Shedden 3 games to 1.
All-in-all, Alvinston posted a record of 8 wins, and 3 losses in the playoffs. They defeated Glanworth 2-0 in the opening round best of three series, dethroned Glencoe, last year’s playoff champions, in a superb best 3 out of 5 semi-final series that went the distance, and then cruised to the playoff title in the finals, posting wins of 8-3, 9-4, and 8-2 in games 2, 3, and 4 versus Shedden to end the series, after an opening game loss of 2-1. Alvinston was a perfect 6-0 on the road in the playoffs, and were 2-3 on home soil.
Alvinston finished their successful 2009 season, with a record of 43 wins and 24 losses on the season, as they completed a 67 game schedule in 2009. They won two tournaments, as they were Champions of the Port Huron Invitational ISC II Qualifier, and the Pete Schwab Memorial Tournament in Frankenmuth, posting 6-0 records in each tournament. They finished in a tie for 9th at the ISC II Tournament of Champions in Rock Island, Illinois, and then capped off their season, by earning the St. Thomas & District Major Fastball League Playoff title. Congratulations are in order to Alvinston on a fantastic season, and a big thanks goes out to all of our loyal supporters and fans in the playoffs, who cheered us on to the Playoff Championship!
The Indians will be back in 2010, for their team’s 15th season!
