Gemmell leads Barwick in breakout victory

Sight & Sound aren’t old, they’re just older. And the Barwick Blue Knights aren’t young, they’re just younger.
But when the two contrasting teams meet, they always bring their A-game and it always makes for entertaining matches.
“Whenever we play these guys, we get up to play,” said Kevin Gemmell of Barwick in response to playing the number one team in Sight & Sound.
And last Thursday was no exception, as Barwick rode up to VanJura Stadium with 13 players in tow while Sight & Sound, due to players’ conflicting schedules, were just barely able to field a full team.
That’s the advantage of having a team of youth. There’s often less responsibilities. Schedules are more flexible. And players are therefore more readily available.
And Barwick took advantage of their numbers, took advantage of their young legs, and were able to serve Sight & Sound a right thrashing with the score ending up 9-1.
Leading his team’s breakout game of the season was Barwick’s Gemmell, who was involved in eight of his team’s nine runs and served up two home runs in the game.
“I just felt really good up there and everyone played great. Everyone hit the ball and everyone fielded it well,” said Gemmell.
Gemmell, who went into the game two homers shy of Don Copenace’s (Sight & Sound) home run lead with seven, had thought about the home run race but didn’t spend too much time worrying about it.
“I kind of had it in the back of my mind. But you never think you’re going to hit two home runs in the game,” said Gemmell.
“I just go with a blank head going in there (the batters’ box). Because if you think you’re going to hit a home run, you’ll never hit one that way.
“The first swing I just kind of swung and it went, and the second swing I’m kind of thinking, ‘Hey, if I hit one more then I’m tied’, and I kind of got lucky.”
Luck plays a part in any athletic accomplishment. But revenge for their previous loss to Sight & Sound also played a part in Barwick’s dominant play that night.
The last defeat Barwick had suffered before pulling off a string of victories was to Sight & Sound two weeks ago. That game saw Barwick come out strong and maintain a large lead, but the veteran players of Sight & Sound, cut the deficit and squeak by with a final score of 9-7.
“I worked a little bit different tonight because of our last game,” said Barwick pitcher George Oltsher, who had a strong game in holding the usually lively bats of Sight & Sound to only one run and struck out nine batters in the process.
“I just threw a few more drop balls and they were expecting the rise ball stuff. I try to throw different to them. Tonight, I threw them mainly drop balls and that’s why they couldn’t get anything up,” he explained.
Last game’s result also served as a backdrop to Gemmell’s thinking.
“I was confident about our play but at the same time I was thinking that too,” said Gemmell, who went 2-for-4 in their last outing with Sight & Sound. “I don’t think I’d take anything away from our win because we scored nine runs with the same pitcher from last game, but at the same time, they could have scored 10 runs.”
But Sight & Sound didn’t, and as a result saw their record go to 13-2, while Barwick’s record rose to 10-8—good enough for the fourth place spot in the Rainy River District Fastball League standings.
The RRDFL playoffs are nearing (tentatively slated for August 5th) and while Barwick having been playing with a confidence not seen at the beginning of the season, Sight & Sound must still be elected as the favourites.
“We’re on a roll here, and it’s good that we’re doing this before the playoffs,” said Gemmell.