Sight & Sound stays alive

“Love hurts/love scares/love wounds and mars/any heart.”
The opening line to Nazareth’s biggest hit in “Love Hurts” was a soothing tune for the Sight & Sound players who turned out to watch the Scottish band at Warp 9 on Thursday night after marring the hearts of Rainy River.
The local squad routed the Royals 11-3 at VanJura Stadium to stay alive in the Rainy River District Fastball League playoffs while bouncing the visitors from further contention.
Defending champion Sight & Sound, who finished first in the regular season this year, fell behind early to second-seeded Rainy River.
But their offence kicked into gear in the bottom of the fourth starting with a Dale Jerry home run. That opened the flood gates as Sight & Sound exploded for 10 runs in three innings.
“I’m very happy. The past couple of games we’ve been struggling and they’ve been close,” noted Don Copenace, who contributed to the cause by belting a fifth-inning homer that put his team ahead for good.
“Guys haven’t been hitting the way we should and tonight we just busted out and that’s a big boost of confidence for us,” he added.
Both teams finished the 18-game regular season with identical 15-3 records, but Sight & Sound was awarded the top seed by virtue of having scored more runs than the Royals (196 -149).
The locals also were looking for a little payback for the loss they suffered to Rainy River in the last regular-season game.
“Yeah, we were looking for a little bit of payback,” said Copenace. “We didn’t want to end our season right now, we didn’t play enough baseball yet.”
Sight & Sound next will play Tuesday night at VanJura against Barwick, who edged Stratton 5-4 last night. Stratton, meanwhile, will face Big Grassy, who advanced after doubling Pinewood 12-6 yesterday.
The Royals weren’t disappointed with losing last night’s game, but instead were pleased with the overall success of the season.
“I don’t think that we’re disappointed,” said Donnie Gall, considered by many to be the best player in the RRDFL.
“We brought the best team that we have and the guys have worked hard all year to get to this point, and unfortunately we have to play on this diamond.
“It’s not a very nice diamond to play in,” he remarked. “It’s dark all the time, it’s cold, and the wind blows out. I mean, you could bunt and it hit the ball over the fence here.
“They didn’t win it, we just didn’t put it together tonight. It was a good game and they are a great team, but we were tops with them at the end of the year.
“We wish them luck and that’s about it,” added Gall, who immediately headed to Kansas City after the game to play in a fastball tournament there.
Heading into their next game against Barwick on Tuesday night, Derek McKinnon is pleased with how his team shrugged off their sluggish start to the playoffs (they lost their first game to eighth-seeded Stratton).
“I think that bats are going a little bit better. We’ve tightened up the infield, and I think we’re going to have a good solid game,” he said.
“We’re playing a little bit better and we’re going to have everyone there, too,” McKinnon added. “It looks good for us.”