Staff
The ball left Stacy Patey’s bat bound for a place far, far away.
Now the Fort Frances Her-icanes get to try and win their first-ever Rainy River District Women’s Fastball League crown on home turf.
Patey’s second-inning inside-the-park grand slam broke a 3-3 tie and propelled the top-seeded ’Canes to a 9-6 win over the host Red Gut Babes last night.
With the victory, the two teams will meet in a winner-take-all game set for this Monday (Aug. 22) at 6 p.m. at VanJura here.
Former Red Gut starter Tracy Morningstar came back to haunt her old team both on the mound and at the plate last night.
On an night when lacklustre defence on both sides led to neither pitcher giving up an earned run, the ’Canes jumped ahead in the first inning.
Dana Ward led off the game by reaching base on Beulah Perreault’s error—then advancing to third when the ball eluded Taylor Windego in centre.
Morningstar later singled home Ward for the 1-0 lead.
The Her-icanes literally gave the lead away in the bottom half as Red Gut scored three times without a hit thanks to four errors.
Windego, who reached on Laureen Hill’s throwing error at short, made her way around the bases thanks to a misfire by catcher Charity McMahon on her steal attempt of second, which bounced into centre.
She rounded third too wide and looked to be caught in a rundown, but Ward dropped Morningstar’s relay throw to allow Windego to jet home.
After two walks, Alyssa Windego scored from third when McMahon overthrew Morningstar on a toss back to the mound.
Morningstar’s subsequent wild pitch allowed pinch-runner Kayla Windigo to motor in to make it 3-1.
Two more errors by Perreault, followed by a walk and a fielders’ choice, loaded the bases for the ’Canes with two out in the second.
Jess Woodgate ripped a grounder past Anita Johnson at third base to bring home Amy Penner and Natalie Dal to knot the score.
Morningstar then walked to fill the sacks again before Patey cranked a bomb over the head of Krystal Windego that rolled all the way to the fence.
Patey was halfway to third before the ball was retrieved and scored without a throw home to put the visitors up 7-3.
Babes’ starting pitcher Lynn Indian settled down after that to keep her team within striking distance.
But Morningstar responded by only giving up an RBI groundout to Windigo in the second before stringing together eight-straight outs.
After another RBI groundout in the fifth by Windigo pulled the Babes to within 7-5, Morningstar’s control deserted her in the sixth as she walked the bases loaded with two out.
But the ‘Canes escaped unscathed when McMahon hustled to track down a wild pitch and relayed it to Morningstar, who tagged Perreault on the hip just in time as she tried to score from third.
Fort Frances, which has beaten the Babes all three times they’ve met this season, tacked on two more runs in the seventh thanks to a pair of errors.
Caylee Woolsey stung her second hit of the night to drive in Hill, then later scored when Alyssa Windego’s errant throw allowed Penner to reach safely.
The Babes cut the lead the three when Taylor Windego walked, stole second and third, and then scored on a wild pitch.
But the 2013 and 2014 league champs could get no closer.
