Staff
It came down to the last minute to see if the Manitou T-Birdies even were going to have enough players to start the game.
When they did show up, they couldn’t keep up with the Joneses.
The fifth-place Couchiching Lady Raiders cruised to an 18-3 win over the last-place T-Birdies Manitou in their first-round Rainy River District Women’s Fastball League playoff matchup last night at the Rodrick and Telford Bruyere Ball Field.
While she had some control problems, Couchiching pitcher Syd Jones mostly was in control of a T-Birdies’ team that went 0-16 during the regular season.
The Lady Raiders’ ace tossed a six-hit complete game, which included holding Summer Leonard, the league’s co-leader in home runs, hitless on the night.
Meanwhile, the offence supplied plenty of help—banging out 14 hits, including a 3-for-5 effort by Darcy Jones.
Couchiching, which scored five runs in both the first and third innings, took advantage of a plethora of defensive miscues by Manitou.
Only six of the Lady Raiders’ runs were credited as RBIs, with the rest scoring via wild pitches, passed balls, or one of 13 T-Birdies’ errors.
Kayla Allan led Manitou with three singles and a walk while Katie Sadewasser added two hits and a pair of RBIs.
Bev Cochrane took the loss on the mound, allowing 17 runs on 13 hits over five innings.
Kailee Kelly mopped up in the sixth, notching her first career strikeout while allowing just one run.
Couchiching now advances on to face the fourth-place Lynx in the second round Monday at Big Grassy.
In other first-round games last night, the 11th-place Fort Frances Angels are one step away from seeing their season end after a 14-7 loss to the sixth-place Red Gut Babes.
Alyssa Windego got the win on the mound while Kayla Windigo pounded a home run for the Babes, who next will head to Northwest Bay on Monday to face the defending champion Beavers, who finished in third place during the regular season.
The loser will host the T-Birdies next Wednesday in the loser’s side bracket.
The Angels will visit the loser of the Couchiching-Big Grassy contest, also next Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the eighth-place Emo Renegades made their first playoff game in their inaugural season one to cherish as they dumped the ninth-place Sabaskong Tebinaak 11-4.
Mykenzie Borger got the win while Candy Kelly was tagged with the loss.
The night’s other game went to the seventh-place Dawson Tigers, whose home game in Pinewood turned into a forfeit win over the 10th-place Big Island Wildcats.
Emo will visit VanJura here Monday to face the top-ranked Fort Frances Her-icanes.
Dawson heads to the St. Francis Sports Field here to square off against with the second-seeded Fort Frances Mud Dogs.
The loser of the Emo-’Canes game will host Big Island next Wednesday while the loser of the Tigers-Mud Dogs contest will host Sabaskong.
