Mitch Calvert
On a night when the stars of the Rainy River District Fastball League took to the field at VanJura Ball Park here last night, Bill Copenace shown the brightest with a pair of home runs to pace Team One to a 10-3 victory.
Team Two actually jumped out to a 2-0 lead and was sailing along until the third inning, when Big Grassy Lightning ace Jeff Morrison ran into control problems.
Morrison plunked Sabaskong’s Kevin Copenace and Strattons’ Ted Heyens to put two runners on, and then Morrison’s fellow Lightning teammate Bill Copenace made him pay with a three-run bomb to right field.
“That was my first time facing him there today,” Copenace said of his teammate. “What can I say, I just saw the balls really good today.”
“I haven’t talked to him yet, but maybe [I’ll rub it in] a little bit,” Copenace laughed after the game.
Big Island’s Jessie Tom—who is tied for the home run lead with eight with Stratton’s Rob McGinnis—added to the fireworks that same inning with a homer to left field off Morrison.
Meanwhile, in his next at bat, Copenace hooked another moon shot just inside the foul pole off Murray Armstrong (who replaced Morrison to begin the fifth) to extend Team One’s lead.
“He challenged me with three fastballs,” Copenace said of the at-bat. “The first one I fouled off, the second one I pulled foul [down the line] and then the third one I knew he was coming with another one and I hit it right around the foul pole there.”
Team One blew the game open that inning, as Sight & Sound’s Derek McKinnon would drive in another run with a single to centre, and then Chris Jack would line one to left to bring both McKinnon and Tom in to give Team One an 8-2 lead through five.
In the bottom of the sixth, Tom added to Team One’s lead with a hard liner over first base that went through Marcel Pagee’s glove to plate two more runs, all but salting away the victory.
Pagee scored on a double by Marty Armstrong in the top of seven, but that would be as close as Team Two would get.
Barwick’s JJ Landry and Sight & Sound’s John Desaulniers combined for seven strong innings from the mound to lead Team One to victory.
Teams were selected in a “playground” style draft, with all seven teams of the RRDFL having to be represented at least once on both squads.
