Mitch Calvert
The Big Grassy Lightning continued their stellar pace to the Rainy River District Fastball League season by winning the inaugural Rick Copenace Memorial tournament over the weekend in Sabaskong.
The Lightning blanked the Stratton Bobcats 12-0 to take the title, with ace pitcher Jeff Morrison tossing the shutout.
The Barwick Blue Knights took third place with a 7-4 win over the Wabigoon Braves in the ‘B’ final.
Big Grassy lost their tourney-opener to the Sight & Sound Wolves 4-1, but rebounded with a 4-3 win over Wabigoon with Melvin Major on the mound to advance to the ‘A’-side final based on run-differential.
Tournament all-star awards went to Guy Arpin of Stratton (MVP), Ryan Jack of Big Grassy (best outfielder), Roger Allen of Sabaskong (home-run king), and Ron Williams of Wabigoon (best pitcher).
The annual tournament has been named in honour of Rick Copenace, a former Sabaskong Cub who passed away suddenly of coronary arteritis (an inflammation of the arteries) after a game last May.
In RRDFL regular-season play, the Lightning are 6-1 while Barwick was right there at 7-2 heading into a meeting with Big Island last night (the result was unavailable prior to press time).
The Blue Knights have much the same roster from the championship-winning team of a year ago, and that familiarity is paying off in the standings so far.
Long-time manager George Oltsher has shared the pitching duties with JJ Landry—and the tandem has helped the Blue Knights get off to a stellar start.
Oltsher down played the success of his team, noting the league is much-improved as a whole.
“The league is very competitive this year, and even though there has been some one-sided scores, any team can win on a given night,” Oltsher stressed.
“Having equal teams is great for the league,” he added. “Most teams are trying to promote young players, but still keep a few old guys around.”
Big Island is sitting comfortably at 6-2, followed by Sight & Sound (4-4), Stratton (3-4), Rainy River (2-7), and Sabaskong (0-8).
In the only game not rained out last Thursday night, the local Sight & Sound Wolves pounded Rainy River 11-2 on the strength of two home runs from John Desaulniers and a solo shot by Clayton “Beef” Windego.
Murray Armstrong had a homer for Rainy River to give him five on the season and tie him for the league lead with Jessie Tom of Big Island.
Lightning manager Chris Jack, who is one back with four dingers on the campaign, said his squad has grown by leaps and bounds since its formation four years ago.
“I think we’ve got good chemistry within the team, and our pitching is always a big thing,” Jack enthused.
“The Lightning team is just four years old now,” he noted. “The [Big Grassy] Braves were the team before that and it’s pretty much a whole different group now.”
The Lightning’s development really took off a year ago when they battled neck-and-neck with the Wolves for top spot all season long. That momentum was halted when they were upset early in the RRDFL playoffs, losing their first two games.
“The one game we thought was going to be cancelled ended up happening [against Big Island] and Jeff [Morrison] had a doctor’s appointment that he ended up taking in Winnipeg,” Jack explained.
“We had to go with Melvin [Major], who is good, but a lot of the teams locally here are used to hitting against him.
“That was a tough loss that one, but we want to make up for that [this playoffs] for sure,” Jack stressed.
Morrison leads all RRDFL pitchers with a 6-1 record, picking up where he left off a year ago when he was named the league’s best hurler.
“He’s just got size, good whip, well-controlled, and is just a big asset to our team,” Jack lauded. “He’s been pitching for, I would say, at least eight years now.
“For the first three-four years, it was just off-and-on with the Braves, but he’s been really good lately.”
Next up on the RRDFL docket is the annual Canada Day tournament in Barwick. The hosts are hoping to field two teams for the tournament, including an alumni squad.
