The Barwick Blue Knights are two-time champions of the Rainy River District Fastball League following a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Sight & Sound Wolves in extra innings last night in which shortstop Vaughn Wilson scored the winning run by stealing home.
Wilson reached second on an error in the eighth inning with the score tied 2-2. One out later, Wolves’ pitcher Bob Andy intentionally walked Kevin Gemmell and Jason Wilson after falling behind both hitters.
With the bases loaded and Will Derkson at the plate, Vaughn Wilson had the green light from manager George Oltsher and made for the plate before a pitch had been thrown.
Wilson said he stole home twice during the regular season, but with “not so much riding on them, let’s just say that.”
Wolves’ catcher “Beef” Windego said the play came as quite a surprise.
“I sat down to try to block the plate and the throw just never came. I didn’t think he’d come in like that, but he’s a fast guy, though,” he said.
Stealing home served as a bit of vindication for Wilson, who displayed some stellar fielding but went 0 for 3 at the plate with a strikeout.
“I’ll go 0-for-4 so long as we can in a game from that,” he said. “But that play was nothing. Kevin [Gemmell] scored all the way from first base on a single. That was the highlight of the game.”
Gemmell brought home the tying run in the sixth when Jason Wilson sent a hard grounder past Wolves’ second baseman Grant Swire. The run not only evened things on the scoreboard, but also served to swing momentum in Barwick’s favour.
With the game seemingly slipping away and Andy punching out batter after batter (he racked up 10 strikeouts in the game), many hitters came back to the bench audibly frustrated.
When asked how he scored from first on a single, Gemmell laughed, “I’m just fast,” before admitting that Oltsher had put on a hit-and-run.
Wolves’ manager Derek McKinnon simply tipped his hat to the winning team. “A couple errors at the end and she kind of slipped away,” he remarked.
Duane Carlson hit the only home run of the game for Sight & Sound—a solo shot to left field in the first inning.
Barwick—earning homefield advantage and the chance to play the final in front of a large, friendly crowd at Oltsher Field by virtue of having beaten Sight & Sound earlier in the playoffs—were the only team to defeat the top-ranked Wolves this season.
The game was a rematch of last year’s final, when Barwick put away a tough Wolves’ squad.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
