| Game 19: Prince Edward Island 6 Nova Scotia 5 |
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SCOTT SCHMIDT This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Don’t look now, but Pool B is getting very interesting. While a few teams have enjoyed most of the talk as to who will be the medal winners on Sunday, Prince Edward Island has been slipping under the radar. Those days are over now, as the club pulled its record even with a last-at-bat 6-5 win over rival Nova Scotia to sit with identical 2-2 records afterwards. With Alberta making the only real move for top spot in the pool, four other teams remain in contention for the final playoff berth with just one round-robin game left. P.E.I. is very much one of those, but they have felt like that way the whole week. “They were thinking that they were going to finish first or second, they really were,” said head coach Allison Macdonald about his team’s mindset this week. “I don’t know whether we had them thinking that, or if they had us thinking it, but it’s there.” The club opened the tourney with a win over Newfoundland, but dropped tough games to New Brunswick and Alberta on Thursday when they felt they could have been victorious. “That was the saddest day of our life,” said Macdonald without much sarcasm. “The one (versus Alberta) you could say we were so rotten in the field that we didn’t deserve to be in it. “But that being said, we were in it. You can’t just go home and (forget), we have our little talk and say let’s forget it, but a real person doesn’t forget about it.” That notion of what could have been had P.E.I. desperate for redemption on Friday. At first they didn’t look like they wanted it much. After rallying to a 5-3 lead with only the seventh inning remaining, all P.E.I. needed was three outs to secure victory. What had been a solid day of pitching for their staff turned into a nightmare as Nova Scotia clawed back. Two hits, coupled with three walks, tied the game up at 5-5. The go-ahead run wouldn’t come though as P.E.I. hurler Alex Abbott struck out Brandon MacKinnon swinging to end the rally. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Abbott reached on an error, advanced to second on another error and then home when Kyle Dougan’s high fly ball to right field was dropped. Abbott broke for home and slid safely in for the winning run. P.E.I. second-baseman Neil Sherren received the player of the game award for his two RBI contribution. He says wins like that one can do wonders for a team’s confidence. “We showed a lot of character to be able to come back and get that,” said Sherren. “The confidence level has been there all along and we played tough in all of our games. “We know we’re right there and we just have to bear down and gut it out. We’re the smallest province, but I’d say we have got the biggest hearts around.” |
