Joey Payeur
The underdog Sabaskong Cougars took an early lead in Monday night’s first-round playoff game in the Rainy River District Women’s Fastball League.
Little did they know the Fort Frances Herricanes were packing sledgehammers in their bat bags.
The Herricanes responded to the deficit with demolition-type force, bludgeoning the Cougars for 40 unanswered runs in a 40-2 rout of the Cougars at the St. Francis Sportsfields that ended via the mercy rule after 4.5 innings.
Fifth-place Sabaskong surprised the host team by plating a pair of runs in the top of the first.
Charmaine Hunter scored on the front end of a double steal with runners on the corners, while Wawatay Kinew cracked an RBI single to center to bring in Devyn Kelly for a 2-0 advantage.
That lead was a distant memory by the end of the inning, with Fort Frances piling up 12 runs and ending Kelly’s starting assignment on the mound in short order after she recorded only two outs.
Clarissa Copenace took over, but had no better luck stemming the offensive tide generated by the Herricanes, who amazingly bettered their first inning by racking up 14 runs in the second to lead 26-2.
After a comparatively tame three-run third, the Herricanes returned to double-digit destruction mode in the fourth with another 11-run outburst. Defensive miscues plagued the Cougars all night, as Sabaskong committed a whopping 20 errors in the game.
Fort starter Laureen Hill picked up the win with her four innings of work on the mound, allowing two runs and four hits while walking none and striking out six.
Candy Greengrass-Teeple provided one inning of relief in the fifth to finish the contest, with the game ending on a 6-3 double play when shortstop Gina Pope snagged Kelly’s liner and fired to first to catch Hunter off base.
Greengrass-Teeple was 4-for-5 with two RBI in the game for the Herricanes, while Hill (two-run, inside-the-park homer, three RBI), Pope (four RBI), Dana Ward (three RBI), Barb McQuaker (three RBI) and Andrea Sweigert (two RBI) each had three hits.
Charity McMahon contributed two hits and four RBI, including a three-run, inside-the-park homer in the first.
Caylee Wolseley also had two hits and pitched in with two RBI, while Gina Wyder’s 1-for-4 performance ensured every Fort Frances player gained at least one hit.
Coach Don Tucker and the Herricanes hit the road to face the top-ranked Redgut Babes in Redgut Bay tomorrow night in the ‘A’ side of the playoff draw.
Kelly took the loss on the hill for Sabaskong, who now face a must-win scenario against the third-place Big Grassy Lynx tomorrow night in Big Grassy.
The Lynx came out on the wrong end of a 12-4 decision against the second-place Couchiching Raiders at Couchiching First Nation on Monday night.
Darcy Smith earned the pitching victory for the Raiders, as she outduelled her mound opponent, Candace Handorgan.
Couchiching now has a break until going on the road this Monday, when they will be pitted against the winner of the Fort Frances-Redgut game slated for tomorrow.
All playoff games begin at 6:30 p.m.
In related news, Big Grassy will host its annual women’s tournament running tomorrow Friday through Sunday.
