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On Sunday the 9:00 am semi-final matchup
had the Alexander's Stallions square off with the
Alvinston Indians at the Blue Water Invitational in Port
Huron.
In the opening inning, Joe Triest singled, was
sacrificed to second by Steve Donald, and scored on an
RBI two-out single by Scott Smith. In the Stallions
half of the first inning, Brian Fanion led off with a
triple, but was stranded, as Brad Young shut the door on
the mound for Alvinston.
Young went the rest of the game for Alvinston allowing
only 2 more hits along the way, while striking out 10 to
earn the shutout victory, 1-0. Dewey Dyck was the hard
luck losing pitcher for the Stallions, allowing 4 hits,
while striking out 10.
ALVINSTON EARNS ISC
II BERTH
At 1:00pm on Sunday, the
Bluewater Invitational Fastpitch Tournament fans were
treated to a great championship game between the
Alvinston Indians and Ohsweken Redmen. The game
featured Ohsweken's Darren Zack, while Brad Young took
the mound for Alvinston.
Ohsweken jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of
the first inning, when Robert Bomberry singled to score
Luke Hopkins for the game's first run. However, in the
Alvinston half of the second inning, they managed to
count 2 runs. With one out, Ryan Chapman and Scott D.
Smith both singled for Alvinston, and then Rob Burns
followed with a well placed bunt single to drive in the
first run. Then with two out Joe Triest gave the
Indians the lead, scoring Scott D. Smith for the go
ahead run. But, in the home half of the second inning,
Ohsweken's Geoff Bomberry squared matters hitting a solo
blast off of Young to tie the contest at 2's.
The game remained 2-2 until the top of the fifth inning,
when Joe Triest led off with a double for Alvinston,
advanced to third when Steve Donald reached base via an
error, and then Triest scored on a Darren Zack wild
pitch. Zack landed funny with his landing foot, and
tweaked his knee and was forced to exit the game, and
Lee Hopkins took the mound as his replacement. Hopkins
issued Scott Smith a one out walk, and that put runners
on first and third for Alvinston with one out. Jason
Hope followed with a groundout that was almost a double
play, but Hope was able to leg it out, and Donald
scored Alvinston's fourth run in the process.
Ohsweken failed to touch up Indians hurler Brad Young in
the fifth, but did make things close in the bottom of
the sixth. Robert Bomberry led off with a triple, and
Curtis Cornelius followed with an RBI single for the get
close run. The Indians escaped further damage however,
because of a double play to the end the inning.
With the score now 4-3, and Alvinston failing to score
in their half of the seventh inning, it set things up
for an interesting last three outs for the fans. Dave
Hill led off the inning for Ohsweken with a double,
but the Indians defence put away the next two batters,
setting the stage for Luke Hopkins. Hopkins hammered a
ball to deep centre field, but Kyle Vink was able to
reel in the ball on the warning track for the game's
final out, thus preserving Alvinston's 4-3 lead and
ultimately the win.
With Alvinston's 4-3 win, it gave them an automatic
berth into the ISC II Tournament of Champions in Rock
Island, Illinois in August. After failing to earn a
berth for the first time in seven years last year,
Alvinston is returning to the dance again!
Brad Young was the winning pitcher for Alvinston,
allowing 3 runs, 7 hits, and striking out 4 to earn the
imporant win. Darren Zack suffered the loss for
Ohsweken. |
