Staff
It was a pitching experiment that almost blew up in the faces of the Fort Frances Braves.
A last-inning rally by the Northwest Bay Chieftains turned a laugher into a nail-biter as the Braves hung on for a 15-11 victory in Rainy River District Fastball League action last Thursday night at VanJura here.
The third-place Braves (10-1) held a comfortable 15-2 lead going into the seventh but the ninth-place Chieftains (4-8) jumped on normal Braves’ third baseman Brian Hook in his second inning of a rare appearance on the rubber.
Hook allowed nine runs in the frame, capped off by a home run from Isaac Smith, before getting the last out of the game.
Travis Tom got the win as the Braves won their second-straight game while Darren Smith suffered the loss as the Chieftains were handed a third-straight defeat.
Meanwhile, the Barwick Blue Knights (12-1) moved into a first-place tie with the idle Dawson Tigers (12-1) after squeezing out a 9-8 win over the Stratton Eagles (7-6).
Barwick ran its winning streak to 11-straight games as winning pitcher Brandan Pratt scored the walk-off run in the bottom of the seventh against Eagles’ pitcher Guy Arpin.
Stratton lost for the third time in four games to drop down to seventh place in the standings.
Vaughan Wilson went deep for the Blue Knights while Tanner Neilson and Logan Jackson homered for the Eagles.
The Sabaskong Lakers (7-5-1) jumped into sixth place after routing the Sabaskong Goldeneyes 18-1 on Thursday.
Merlin Kelly was the winning pitcher while Darryl Beacham took the loss for the expansion Goldeneyes (2-9), who sit in 12th place.
The defending champion Sight & Sound Wolves (10-3) took care of business against the winless Northwest Bay Juniors (0-13) with a 12-4 victory.
John Desaulniers outpitched Kyle Walton in the mound matchup.
The Rainy River Royals (2-7-1) had their modest two-game unbeaten streak snapped with a 15-3 loss to the Sabaskong Cubs (3-11).
Joe Jack earned the win while Roger Allen and Burton Woods each homered for the Cubs, who moved one point ahead of the Royals for 10th place.
Chris Stone was the losing pitcher.
Finally, the Manitou Thunderbirds (2-11) was handed a 7-0 forfeit victory over Windey’s Warriors (6-7).
Manitou remains in 13th place in the league while the Warriors sit in eighth, two points back of Stratton.
Seven games were on the schedule last night (weather permitting).
League action then resumes tomorrow at 7 p.m. with the Braves and Wolves battling it out at VanJura (weather permitting).
Bragging rights also will be up for grabs as Windey’s and Couchiching face each other at the Rodrick and Telford Bruyere Ball Field.
Rainy River will be in Northwest Bay to play the Juniors while the Chieftains head to Manitou.
Dawson and Barwick will be at two different ballparks in Sabaskong as the Tigers battle the Goldeneyes while the Blue Knights face the Lakers.
The other game will feature Stratton hosting the Cubs.
