Despite the chilly weather, Harvey Flamand turned in a 15-strikeout performance last night as Sight & Sound opened the playoffs with a 16-6 win over Big Island at VanJura Stadium.
“I had that one bad inning,” said Flamand, referring to the seventh, where he surrendered a three-run homer to Randy Morrison and then another run shortly afterwards.
The win means Sight & Sound next will visit Barwick, who beat Sabaskong 12-4 last night, on Tuesday night (Aug. 16) for a second-round match-up in the Rainy River District Fastball League’s playoffs, which feature a double-knockout format.
The game also will be a rematch of last year’s final, which Sight & Sound won to claim their second-straight RRDFL title.
“No one is going to lay down the carpet for us, and nobody is going to let down, but other teams have to remember that we’re going to give it our all every time we come out,” said Sight & Sound’s centrefielder Ed Vold, who went 5-for-5, including three triples, last night.
Marcel Pagee also had a perfect night at the dish for Sight & Sound, going 5-for-5 that included a three-run homer and two triples.
Derek McKinnon went 3-for-4 with a home run and sacrifice fly while Dale Jerry also contributed a “tater.”
Considering this probably is the final year for veteran players like Flamand, Vold, and McKinnon, who collectively have more than 75 years of fastball under their belts, the chemistry seen with Sight & Sound is almost unmatched by anyone else in the league.
“That’s the nice part of having guys that have been playing for so many years together,” said Vold, 39, who started playing fastball when he moved to Fort Frances from Nestor Falls when he was 14 years old.
“We know that if one guy is having a [bad game] that somebody else will pick it up and everyone feeds off of that,” he noted. “And we know that eventually that it will come and that we’ll start hitting.
Big Island jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Jesse Tom scored on a Carl Big George Jr. single. But Sight & Sound responded in the bottom half when “Beeker” Watson and Vold cross the plate after a single by Flamand.
Then came the second inning.
After Flamand fanned Brendan Big George with two runners on in the top of the second, Vold tripled to lead off the home half and later scored when Watson’s harmless-looking pop-up got lost in the lights and fell for a triple.
The rain started coming down at this point, but Sight & Sound held steady, scoring four more runs to lead 7-1.
Had last night’s game been a regular-season affair, it likely would have been cancelled due to the weather.
“Just having a grip on the ball was difficult,” said Big George Jr., who managed seven strikeouts while going 3-for-4 at the plate, as did Tom and Doug Seymour.
“It just seemed that whenever we stepped out there, it started to rain. But things are weird like that sometimes, I guess,” he added.
Big Island next will play Sabaskong on Tuesday night.
In other playoff action last night, first-place Rainy River, who went undefeated during the regular season, hammered Red Gut Bay 17-0.
Rainy River next will play the winner of the Stratton-Big Grassy game, which was re-scheduled for tonight after being washed out last night.
The loser will meet Red Gut Bay on Tuesday night.
Big George Jr. likes the double-knockout format of the playoffs because it extends their season for at least one more week.
“It gives everyone a chance to come back and makes you try harder next time,” he remarked.
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