Mounties LET THE DOGS OUT in 9th Inning!
Posted July 3, 2013
Well you kind of had a feeling it was going to be a strange game right from the start when the Mounties thought the game was at 7:00 and the Dodgers were thinking 6:30. A compromise was reached and the game went off at 6:45. The balls were jumping off the bat at Aldergrove Ballpark and when you factor that in with 7 pitchers 26 hits, blood delays, Injury delays it was not surprising that the game was minutes short of reaching the 4 hour mark. The game ended minutes before the city bylaw kicked in and the field plunged into darkness as both teams were packing up their gear.
The Mounties scored first but the Dodgers answered with 2 in the bottom of the 1st to take a 2 - 1 lead. The Mounties went ahead 5 - 1 when they scored 4 in the top of the 3rd highlighted by Hogans Mammoth 3 run moonshot over the centre field fence. The dodgers scored 1 in the bottom of the 4th to close the gap to 5 - 3.
With both starting pitchers now out of the game Yi An Pan who replaced Poloancic and Kingsbury who replaced Gee settled in nicely and kept the 5th and 6th innings scoreless. The Mounties added 3 insurance runs in the top of the 7th and in the process literally knocked Pan out of the game when a Tintero comebacker richochet off his leg, in a courageous play Pan picked up the ball and threw Quito out at the plate before collapsing.
With the Mounties now leading 8 - 3 most of the fans were gathering up their chairs and packing their coolers expecting a quick bottom half of the inning. The Dodgers had other ideas and after former Vancouver player Napieralski led off the inning with his second hit of the game the Dodgers came to life and combined 5 hits and 2 walks to score 5 runs. The Mounties were able to get out of the inning with the go ahead run on base, but the damage was done and instead of going home victorious they were now all tied at 8 and in a new ball game against a fired up Dodger squad.
The
Mounties went down 1,2,3, in the 8th as Napieralski continued to haunt
his former teammates with an outstanding sliding defensive play in the
hole to keep the Mounties at bay. Sebbin came in for the Mounties and
was lights out winning the battle with his former teammate Napieralski
getting him to pop up, walked the next batter then struck out the next
two giving the Mounties some momentum going into the 9th.
In
dramatic fashion with 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd Gee hit a deep
ball that went off the outstretched glove of the Aldergrove left
fielder. It is a game of inches and this time the ruler went the
Mounties way and the Mounties were now up by 2 runs. Sebbin whose
juices were still flowing from his time on the hill followed that up
with a monstrous line drive that soared over the centerfield fence
surpassing Hogans earlier shot. The Dodgers seemed to be in a state of
shock and the Mounties added 5 more runs before the Dodgers could stop
the 2 out rally. Sebbin shut it down in the bottom of the 9th so
everyone could finally go home.
It was a strange topsy turvey
evening out in the valley, both teams showed signs of greatness and
at other times showed signs of .....well you get the picture.
The Mounties out hit the Dodgers by a 15 to 11 margin. Sebbin picked up
the win.
Next up on the Mountie Hit List: Victoria Red Eagles
There
is a possibility that former Eagle manager Scott Rimek could
be assisting a short handed Red Eagle coaching staff this weekend. The
Mounties would welcome this opportunity and challenge as it was the Rimek
coached Victoria Eagles that defeated the Mounties 8 - 5 in the 2011
Provincial Final Championship game at Carnarvon Park.
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