| Game 18: Manitoba 29 Newfoundland 1 (5 innings) |
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SCOTT SCHMIDT This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Manitoba head coach Ryan Anderson was not happy with the way his club finished off their win against Nova Scotia on Thursday and he was even less excited about the tough loss they were handed versus New Brunswick later that day. Whatever he told his club before they took on Newfoundland on Friday at Jeffries Park must have been — at the very least — inspirational because Manitoba took all their frustrations out on the boys from the rock. When the dust finally settled, Manitoba (2-2) had pushed 29 runs across home plate in a 29-1 rout, and were feeling much better about themselves afterwards. “It’s nice to come back and get a win,” said Anderson. “The boys hit the ball, so that’s nice to see. “Our starting pitcher did his job and everyone got involved, so it was good.” First-baseman Brenden Shearer led the way in huge fashion with seven RBI on the afternoon. Josh Ginter had three of his own, while Brad Lesy, Josiah Churchill, Tyler Page, Kyle Turner, Jean-Guy Bilodeau, and Daniel Worb chipped in two RBI a piece. “We knew this was a must win game, especially with the tight race in Pool B,” said Worb after being named player of the game. “It was a heartbreak loss yesterday, so we just wanted to come out and swing the bats well today and we did that for five innings.” Hitting had been inconsistent for the Manitoba Selects so far, and Worb felt a statistical clinic from his squad can only lead to more hits. “Once that first inning went by, we knew everyone was hitting today,” said Worb. “We were just having fun out there.” Lost in all the offensive shuffle of the game was some pretty solid pitching as well. Ryan Shaw and Matt Zegers combined to throw the tourney’s second no-hitter as Newfoundland (0-4) has now gone two straight games without a hit. They did however manage a run in their last at-bat when Tyler Siese walked and was moved to third on consecutive errors. Brad Penney’s ground ball that followed drove in the run and gave Newfoundland’s fans something to cheer about. “When we got down a lot of runs I told the guys to just go and have some fun and don’t even look at the scoreboard,” said head coach Scott Mercer. “It’s disheartening though because I know we’re better then what we’ve shown but some reason or another it’s just not happening this week.” |
