The Barwick Blue Knights are known for putting away the Sight & Sound Wolves when it counts—cementing that reputation with an exciting 3-2 comeback victory in extra innings of the Rainy River District Fastball League final last Thursday evening.
The key play behind the Knights’ repeating as league champs was shortstop Vaughn Wilson’s steal of home to score the winning run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.
Wilson noted afterwards that he had stolen home twice during the regular-season, but with “not so much riding on them, let’s just say that.”
With one out in the eighth, he had reached second on an error with the score tied 2-2. One out later, Wolves’ pitcher Bob Andy intentionally walked Kevin Gemmell and Jason Wilson after falling behind both batters.
Then with Will Derkson coming up, the shortstop had the green light from Barwick manager George Oltsher and made for the plate before a pitch had been thrown.
Wolves’ catcher “Beef” Windego conceded the play came as quite a surprise.
“I sat down to try to block the plate and the throw just never came,” he noted. “I didn’t think he’d come in like that but he’s a fast guy, though.”
Stealing home served as a bit of vindication for Wilson, who displayed some stellar fielding but went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
“I’ll go 0-for-4 so long as we can in a game from that,” he remarked. “But that play was nothing. Kevin [Gemmell] scored all the way from first base on a single [earlier in the game].
“That was the highlight of the game.”
Gemmell brought home the tying run in the sixth when Jason Wilson smacked a hard grounder past Wolves’ second baseman Grant Swire.
The run not only evened things on the scoreboard for Barwick, but also served to swing momentum in their favour.
With the game seemingly slipping away and Andy punching out batter after batter (he racked up 10 strikeouts on the game), many Barwick hitters were coming 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 said.
Andy pitched the entire game for the Wolves and said it was one of the best he’d played in all season. “That’s the way it’s been pretty much with Barwick games—they’re always low scores,” he noted.
Oltsher started the game for the Knights, but gave way to reliever Jason Wilson in the fifth. “I think I was probably the worst pitcher out there tonight,” he laughed.
Oltsher, who also serves as RRDFL president, was proud that the score capped off a playoff season where blowouts were few and far between.
“That was great to see a lot of one-run games and a few upsets, that was really good to see,” he said. “That means the league is competitive.”
Duane Carlson hit the only home run of the game for Sight & Sound—a solo shot to left-field in the top of the first.
Barwick tightened it back up in the second when Jason Wilson hit a lead-off double before being driven in on a triple by Cole Derkson. The young right-fielder was one of the Knights’ stalwarts, going 2-for-3 and robbing Windego of a hit with a running catch in the seventh.
The Wolves responded in the third when Eric Shute hit a triple to right-field before Marcell Pagee scored the go-ahead run with a single, holding that lead until the sixth.
Gemmell said one of the Knights’ advantages was the exceptional fielding plays that seemed to come every other inning.
“It was kind of sloppy at the end there, but overall you gotta make plays to win games,” he remarked. “In the end, I think we made more plays, but they played a hell of a game.”
Barwick had earned home-field advantage—and the opportunity to play the final in front of a large, friendly crowd at Oltsher Field—by virtue of beating Sight & Sound earlier in the playoffs.
And in fact, the Blue Knights were the only team to defeat the first-place Wolves all season.
The final served as a rematch of last year’s final match, when Barwick put away a tough Wolves’ squad in the league crown.
With the history behind the game, the lively crowd on hand at Oltsher Field in Barwick, and the surprising finish, even the normally humble Vaughn Wilson had to admit the championship was a thrill.
“3-2 game in the finals in extra innings. You can’t ask for much more than that,” he said.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
