Staff
If every game is as good as the first one, the second half of the Rainy River District Women’s Fastball League is going to be a thrill ride.
Jen Singleton slid home with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth as the host Couchiching Lady Raiders battled back from a four-run deficit for a heart-pounding 11-10 extra-inning win over the Fort Frances Mud Dogs last night.
Stephanie Racine led off the inning with a single to left, then stole second—despite the Mud Dogs objecting that she had left first before pitcher Rachelle Yeo had delivered the pitch.
After Racine made it to third, Singleton got hit in the foot by Yeo before later stealing second uncontested.
Darcy Jones’ grounder to short was enough to bring home Racine with the tying run and move Singleton to third.
Dianna Singleton followed by popping up to the right side of the infield.
Mud Dogs’ shortstop Jessica Taggart raced over to make the catch, but her momentum had her going away from home plate.
That was enough to convince Jen Singleton to make a mad dash for home, with Taggart’s throw in time and on target.
But Shelby Tymkin, filling in for absent starting catcher Megan Reid, dropped the ball as she went to tag the hard-charging Singleton.
The resulting collision left both players on their backs and the ball lying loose on the ground as umpire Jim Fowler emphatically signalled Singleton was safe.
In a game featuring several lead changes, the Mud Dogs took a 7-5 lead with a three-run fifth capped by Sarah Glover’s RBI single that cashed in Tymkin.
The Mud Dogs then padded the lead with two more in the sixth on Taggart’s RBI single and a wild pitch by Couchiching starter Sid Jones that allowed Jodie Hood to score.
But Jones’ teammates picked her up in the bottom of the frame—striking back for four runs to tie the game.
The two teams agreed to play the game, originally scheduled for this coming Monday, five days early on the same night the final makeup games of the first half of the season were supposed to have taken place.
But circumstances prevented both other games from happening.
The Big Island Wildcats (4-7) forfeited to the defending champion Northwest Bay Beavers (7-4) when they couldn’t get enough players together for their game.
The Fort Frances Her-icanes and Fort Frances Angels, meanwhile, were supposed to do battle at VanJura.
But the Angels (2-9) took the forfeit loss after also not being able to come up with enough players as most of the team is writing final exams this week.
That left the Her-icanes in a tie for first with the Mud Dogs for the best record in the first half.
The second half begins in earnest Monday with five more games as the 12-team league breaks into two six-team geographical divisions for the rest of the regular season.
Teams will play a five-game, round-robin schedule in their own division to cut down on travel costs.
The East Division will include the Mud Dogs, Her-icanes, Angels, Couchiching, Northwest Bay, and Red Gut.
Big Island, Emo, Big Grassy, the Dawson Tigers, Sabaskong, and Manitou make up the West Division.
