Rick McDonald Memorial Park in Azilda
June 7, 2011
Sudbury, ON
CARDINALS CLIMB TO 4 AND 2
Play resumed Monday night in league play at the Rick McDonald Memorial Park in Azilda . In the opener the Swick Hounds of Garson came close to handing the North Stars their first defeat of the season but up short as the always resilient defending league champs scored three big runs in the bottom of the last inning on their way to a 8-7 thrilling victory and keep their perfect record at 5 and 0 . John Ainslie (5-0) picked up his 5th victory of the season going all the way in scattering 10 hits , striking out 5 batters while issuing a season high 5 base on balls . Matt Behm (0-1) stated his first game of the season and then gave way to veteran Gary “GNUâ€Â Lamothe (0-4) was tagged with the loss after the first batter he faced singled and then came in on the clutch double of veteran Pitou Paquette .Both pitchers combined to scatter 7 hits , fan 3 batters and issue three base on balls . Curtis Hambley catcher and back this season after missing a full year due to a serious injury is on a tear of late going 2 for 2 (double) and climbing to a 714 average with teammate Pitou Paquette hitting 2 for 3 (clutch double in the last frame) while the league’s leading hitter at this junction , Corey “Pushâ€Â Farmer(750) went 2 for 2 (3 runs scored ) in a losing cause for the Swick Hounds .
In the nightcap played under the lights , the Pickerel River Cardinals , remained in second placed with their fourth victory in the last five games . New comer and ISC prospect Chris Vanvolkenburg (1-0)1 from the Coburg Aces (newly arrived just a week ago) got his first start of the season for the Cardinals . He was impressive delivering a 9-0 win over the Whitefish Lake First Nation Falcons for his new mates where he gave up but 3 hits struck out 6 batters and issued 2 base on balls . Chris only faced 22 batters in his five innings of work (game called after five because of the 7 run mercy rule) .Troy Nootchtai (1-3) suffered his third loss of the young season and gave way in the 4th frame to Danny Nootchtai (0-1) . Both pitchers combined to give up 12 hits , strike out 5 batters and issue two base on balls . Craig Brown had perfect night for the Cardinals hitting 4 for 4 ( scored 4 runs and drove in 3 runs ) with new teammate Chris Vanvolkenburg helping his own cause with a 2 for 2 performance (2 runs batted in) while Justin Nootchtai and Sid Nebenionquit both hit 1 for 3 in a losing cause for the Falcons .
Play will resume Wednesday night with a single game in Whitefish at 7 PM when third place Swick Hounds of Garson (1-4) take on the last place Whitefish Lake First Nation Falcons (1-5) .
There will be only six participants in this year’s 11th Annual Rick McDonald Memorial Fastball tournament for June 11th and 12th .. All games will be played on field #3 at the Rick McDonald Memorial Park in Azilda . The teams participating are : Swick Hounds of Garson ,Sudbury North Stars , Pickerel River Cardinals , Sagamock River Dawgs , Sagamok Rez Ryders , Temiskaming Shores Chills . The teams will be split into two divisions of three .. They will face their two opponents once , The top two teams in each division will cross over for semifinals with the with winners facing each other in the championship game .The third place finishers will play in a consolation final . Games only start on Saturday morning at 9 AM with the final set for 6 PM in the evening . Play resumes on Sunday morning . There will be total of 10 games . There will be a licensed beer garden and BBQ all weekend long .
Attached you will find the league leaders, league standings plus a caption photo from game one on Monday night
Photo foreground Matt Behm of the Swick Hounds pitching , Jesse St Cyr(North Stars) succeeding with his bunt sacrifice , Chris Peters behind home plate
background Eric Legendre at first base and Robbie Edwards at third base
Keep fit ! Come out to the 11th annual Rick McDonald Memorial Fastball Tournament this coming weekend in Azilda ! See you on the fastball diamonds in Azilda ,Garson and Whitefish !
Roger Legendre league head statistician and your public relations liaison/advisor
June 5, 2011