Knights shut out Wolves

    The Barwick Blue Knights spent the regular season as the only problem for the Sight & Sound Wolves and little changed in the playoffs as the visitors beat the Wolves 3-0 at their VanJura home.
    Pitching was key for both teams, as Kevin Gemmel’s first inning home run registered as the only earned run of the game. George Oltsher and reliever Jason Wilson combined for the shutout, while Sight & Sound’s starter John Desaulniers allowed just three hits and struck out a whopping 15 batters over seven innings, striking out the side in both the fourth and seventh.
    “Pitching on both teams was good,” Barwick starter and manager Oltsher said. “They might have had an off night. They hit the ball (well). They’re a tough team and you can’t take any of them for granted.”
    Desaulniers termed his pitching “okay” but insisted it wasn’t the story.             “Don’t matter if it’s 1-0 or 15-0, you gotta get runs to win. I’m not critical of the guys,” he insisted, pointing out he—like most of the hitters in the game—didn’t have a hit to show for the night.
    “They stay up when I play them it seems like, and they earned everything they got tonight,” he said.
    Wolves manager Derek McKinnon said he thought it was a well played game, but he was “disappointed in our bats.”
    With the win, Barwick will play a Stratton Eagles team that has scrapped its way back from the relegation bracket with a 13-4 win over the Sabaskong Cubs highlighted by home runs by Rob McGinnis and Travis Vandenbrand and a pair from Guy Arpin. That game will be held in Barwick on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
    Meanwhile, the Wolves will face the Rainy River Royals, who last night bested  the Big Grassy Lightning 5-4. That game will be held at VanJura field at 8 p.m. next Tuesday.