Staff
The Barwick Blue Knights saw the error of their ways.
They just couldn’t stop making errors.
The normally sure-handed Knights racked up seven defensive miscues–and the Fort Frances Braves took advantage to claim a 9-4 victory in the third-and-deciding game of the Rainy River District Fastball League championship series last night at Couchiching.
The Braves avenged their loss in the 2015 final to Barwick, taking the series 2-1 after a 7-2 win in Game 1 last Tuesday followed by Barwick’s 4-1 triumph in Game 2 the next night.
It was their first title since moving to Fort Frances at the start of the 2015 season, after having won three-straight league crowns as the Big Grassy Braves from 2012-14.
Barwick led 2-0 after its first at-bat and 4-3 after scoring twice in the third, but couldn’t add any more runs after that while piling up the errors.
Five of those miscues came courtesy of third baseman Brad Wakefield, a usually reliable veteran at the hot corner who had a most difficult night at the worst possible time.
The Braves went ahead to stay in the bottom of the third with three runs–the go-ahead one coming on Nick Ashworth’s bloop that fell just inside the right-field line and turned into an RBI triple that scored Mike Parisien.
Braves’ right-hander Jaden Gustafson, who struck out 13 in a four-hit, complete-game win in Game 1 before he let frustration get the best of him in the Game 2 loss, was back on top of his game after some early struggles.
Gustafson allowed just one hit after the third inning, winding up with a five-hitter.
He fanned 14 Knights’ hitters, including striking out the side twice, while issuing two walks.
JJ Landry took the loss for Barwick, giving up just two earned runs on nine hits while striking out a pair.
The district fastball season concludes tonight with the RRDFL’s all-star game, which gets underway at 7 p.m. under the lights at Couchiching.
