[ST. THOMAS]
by Rob Ross, TIMES-JOURNAL STAFF
It was all the Glencoe Astros needed … four batters and Shaun Winship.
The Astros scored in the top of the first inning and then left it for Winship to silence the Belmont Black Sox 1-0 and win the St. Thomas and District Fastball League championship.
Glencoe took the best-of-five final in four games and knocked off the top three teams from the regular season on way to the title.
Winship delivered the lone run, hitting a two-out single to score Kyle Mitchell who led off with a single.
Mitchell advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Rowan Lamb and moved to third base on a Simon Rogers ground out.
“Shaun pitched a great game,” said Mitchell, the Astros captain. “It’s a no-brainer that Shaun will win the MVP of the playoffs again. Last year we lost in the final and he won MVP. He was even better this year. He’s a huge part of our success.”
Winship tossed a three-hitter in the finale, and issued one base on balls, while striking out 11 batters. He also did it with the bat, having six RBIs in the series.
“It’s a big relief. We’re sure happy. We didn’t want to go to Game 5,” said Mitchell, who had two singles last night. “We were a lot more focused than Game 3 and it showed as we didn’t make any mistakes.”
A Rodgers double and a single for Lam, a single, rounded out the Glencoe offence. The Astros were without Mark Johnson, who is attending camp with Rochester of the American Hockey League.
Glencoe, champions also in 2004, have made four of the past five finals.
Having Simon Rodgers catching added depth to the team and he made a difference, said Mitchell.
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“He was a big boost to the lineup.”
“We made some great plays on defence to keep us tight,” Belmont manager Gary Wren. “We just couldn’t solve Shaun Winship. He was overpowering.”
Two men on in the first and fourth innings was all the noise the Black Sox made.
Todd Winkworth had two hits for Belmont.
“I’m proud of the guys. When we were down 2-0 (in series), we played tough winning Game 3 and played tough (Tuesday). There was no let-up,” said Wren. “Three of the four games were excellent games. It could have gone either way with a hit here or there.”
Belmont’s Nick Goetz allowed one run on five hits while striking out four batters.
“The guys were pleased with their season,” Wren added. “That was the highest we’ve finished (second) and first final.”
Belmont also made the final at the ISC Challenge Cup this season.
The league banquet is Saturday, Nov. 8, in Glencoe.