Players

Alvinston Indians
2008 Baseball

 

ALVINSTON RETURNS TO THE FINALS

                This past weekend the Alvinston Indians travelled to Cobourg, Ontario, for the annual OASA Ontario Eliminations.  The Indians were champs in St. Thomas in 2007, and were hoping to equal that same feat this season in Cobourg. 

                On Friday night, the Lambton County squad opened up the tournament against the Jarvis Rock.  After a scoreless first inning, Alvinston counted a run in the second, and added five more runs in the fourth, en route to a 6-0 shutout victory.  Joe Triest was 2/3 for Alvinston, with 2 RBI’s, while Ryan Swift earned MVP honours in the game, as he tossed 7 innings, allowing only one hit, with two walks, no runs allowed, and 5 strikeouts, to earn the win for Alvinston in game #1.  Scoring for Alvinston was Andy Richardson, Scott Smith, Ryan Swift, Shawn Fenton, Theo Metron, and Scott D. Smith.  Driving in the runs was Richardson (2), J. Triest (2), Metron, and S.D. Smith.

                On Saturday morning, Alvinston faced off against the Ottawa Team Easton Thunder.  A dismal performance was put forth by the team, as they suffered a 7-0 mercy loss in five innings.  The team hoped that this was their bad game for the weekend.  Another loss would send the Indians home early, so they needed to play well in their final round robin game and win to push them through to Sunday’s playoffs. 

                On Saturday night, after a 3 hour rain delay, Alvinston faced a young team from Colborne.  Alvinston opened the scoring, on a solo home run blast by Scott Smith in the first inning, however, Colborne replied in their half of the inning to square matters.  The game remained tied until the fifth inning, when Metron doubled, was sacrificed to third base by Scott D. Smith, and then Andy Triest executed the suicide squeeze, to score Metron from third base for the go ahead run.  In the seventh, Alvinston would add two more runs, to secure a 4-1 win, in their final round robin tilt.  Metron and S. D. Smith scored in the seventh, while Richardson and Brian Prowse drove in the runs.  Scott Smith was awarded with MVP honours for Alvinston in this game, while Gord Scott was the winning pitcher for Alvinston on the mound, with Ryan Swift receiving the save in this contest.   

                The win on Saturday, pushed Alvinston through to Sunday, where they faced the #6 ranked team going into this month’s ISC II Tournament of Champions in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Elmira Cubs.  Alvinston and Elmira have had many tight contests in the past, and this quarter-final match up would prove to be no different.  Alvinston started the scoring in the second inning, when Prowse doubled, and then came around to score on a Scott D. Smith RBI groundout.  However, in the visitor’s half of the third inning, Elmira capitalized on an Indians error, and hurt the Alvinston contingent by scoring three runs, for a 3-1 lead.  But Alvinston found a way to claw back.  A leadoff single by Scott D. Smith sparked the offence, as he was followed by Andy Triest who promptly laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Smith to second, however, Triest’s speed down the line, forced an Elmira throwing error, and S. D. Smith scored on the play, with Triest ending up on third base.  Triest then scored on a sacrifice fly by Scott Smith, to knot the game at 3’s.  With the game now tied, with neither team scoring in the sixth inning, Alvinston’s hearts were squashed as Adam Hillier crushed a solo home run for Elmira to put them in the lead 4-3, with Alvinston only allowed 3 more outs to change the outcome of this game, as well as their fate in the tournament, in the bottom half of the seventh inning.  It was meant to be however, as Sammy Forbes lead off the inning for Alvinston with a pinch hit single, and S. D. Smith followed suit with a single of his own.  Andy Triest then followed, with a key sacrifice bunt to advance the tying run, and go ahead run to both third and second base.  Elmira chose to intentionally walk Richardson to load the bases, and Scott Smith for Alvinston made them pay, slamming a single through the right side, scoring both runners, and winning the game for Alvinston in the process, while eliminating Elmira.  Ryan Swift earned the win on the mound for Alvinston in relief of Doug Charlton, who started the game.  Indians outfielder Andy Triest was named the game’s MVP in this quarter-final tilt. 

                Alvinston was now off to the semi-finals, against the same Ottawa Team Easton team who mercied Alvinston earlier in the tournament.  This Ottawa Team Easton team is ranked #7 heading into the ISC II Tournament of Champions in mid-August, and Alvinston was looking to make it 2 straight upsets, as they looked to return to the finals, with a chance to repeat as Ontario Champions yet again, in 2008.  Alvinston was quick to open the scoring, as they got things going in the bottom of the first, when Joe Triest tripled, and then scored on a clutch 2 out RBI single by Ryan Chapman.  Alvinston got to work again in the third inning, when Chapman walked and then scored on an RBI double by Prowse.  Scott D. Smith then promptly singled to advance Prowse to third, and he scored on a wild pitch, extending Alvinston’s lead to 3-0.  Alvinston starter Ryan Swift was finally touched up in the fourth and fifth innings, when he allowed solo home runs in both innings, diminishing the lead to 3-2.  Gord Scott came in in relief of Swift to help him escape trouble in the fifth inning, and kept Alvinston in the lead heading into their home half of the fifth inning.  Prowse lead off the fifth inning with a single, and then Scott D. Smith ultimately put the final nail in the coffin for Ottawa, as he blasted a 2 run home run, to put Alvinston in the lead for good, and earning MVP honours in the game.  Gord Scott recorded the final six outs on the mound for Alvinston to preserve the victory for Indians starter Swift, sending the local contingent off to the finals, with a 5-2 victory over Ottawa. 

                In the finals, the Indians kept pace with the Cobourg Force for 4 innings, as Indians starter Gord Scott, kept the potent Cobourg attack under control.  But, in the fifth inning, Cobourg counted three runs, and the Indians couldn’t come back.  The Indians left numerous runners on base, however, Cobourg starter Wayne Wells proved to be too strong on this day.  The championship went to Cobourg, as they shutout the Indians, by the final count of 3-0.  Ryan Swift was 3/3 for the Indians in the final, and earned MVP honours for Alvinston in this final game. 

                All-in-all Alvinston recorded 4 wins and 2 losses on the weekend, bowing out to Cobourg in the finals, after upsetting 2 top 10 teams in the quarter final and semi final.  Great pitching combined with timely offence by all members at different times, contributed to the team’s success.  All members of the team received medals for their efforts as finalists in the 2008 OASA Ontario Championship, and a banner was presented to manager Paul “Chico” McCart.  Congratulations to Alvinston, on their finalist performance at this year’s Ontario Elimination tournament.

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