Staff
As the Rainy River District Fastball League heads towards the halfway mark of the season, the race for top spot in the 12-team circuit remains extremely tight.
Heading into a full slate of games last night (results were not available as of press time), the Big Grassy Braves sat in first place with a 9-1 record, with the Barwick Blue Knights a close second at 8-2.
The Braves had opened the season with nine-straight wins until they fell 5-3 to the host Blue Knights last Thursday night.
Leading the way in the hitting and pitching departments for the Braves has been Travis Tom, who holds a league-best 9-1 record on the mound while sitting in a three-way tie for second in home runs with four.
As for the Blue Knights, hurler Brandan Pratt—third in the RRDFL’s pitching race with a 5-2 mark—has been a key cog to their success as no one on that team has hit more than one home run so far this season.
Beef’s Warriors, last year’s runners-up in the RRDFL, currently are third in the standings with a 7-2 record while the defending champion Sight & Sound Wolves are fourth at 6-2-1.
The Rainy River Royals are next (6-3-1), with the Big Island Huskies rounding out the top half of the league (5-4).
The Huskies also have the top slugger in the RRDFL so far as Sean Comegan has hit seven round-trippers.
Rounding out the standings are the Sabaskong Cubs (4-5), Stratton Eagles (4-6), Northwest Bay Chieftains (3-7), Sabaskong Lakers (2-8), Couchiching (2-8), and the Manitou Thunderbirds (1-9).
League play is set to resume tomorrow night with a pair of make-up games from rain-outs last Thursday night, with the Wolves hosting the Huskies at VanJura here and the Cubs taking on Beef’s Warriors at Couchiching.
Following those games, the 12 teams will be seeded based upon their place in the standings before the second half of the season gets underway next Tuesday night.
The regular season schedule will conclude Thursday, July 19, with the double-knockout playoffs starting Tuesday, July 24.
In other news, this year’s RRDFL all-star game will be held Thursday, July 5 in Rainy River.
