Rick McDonald Memorial Fastball League
August 1, 2011
Sudbury, ON
RICK McDONALD MEMORIAL FASTBALL LEAGUE
THE NORTH STARS ARE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE !
After slightly slumping in their way of playing in the last couple of weeks , the veteran defending champions Sudbury North Stars gave a message to their opponents in a pair of games played Thursday night at the Lorne Brady Park in Garson . They unleashed their batting attack with 30 hits and scored 25 runs . In the first of two games , the North Stars defeated the Swick Hounds of Garson 9-2 after having lost their only two games this season against the same Hounds . John Ainslie having difficulties of late went tom 11 and 2 giving up 8 hits ,striking out 3 batters and issuing but one base on balls . His opponent Matt Behn (1-1) in only his second outing of the season was tagged with his first loss as he gave up a whopping 14 hits , fanned but one batter and issued one base on balls . For Mike Cain , veteran short stop of the North Stars it was only the start of a career night for him . He went 2 for 3 at the dish both solo round trippers with teammates John Miners ,Curtis Hambley (double) , Lanny Fichette(double) and Ben Bast (double) all hitting 2 for 3 also while Corey Farmer (triple) , Todd Parsons (two doubles) and Shane Bene all hit 2 for 3 in a losing cause for the Hounds .
In the nightcap , the North Stars continued their onslaught hit parade picking up another 13 hits on their way to a 16-8 drubbing of the slumping Cardinals of Pickerel River . The North Stars used three pitchers to do the job starting with ageless veteran and 60 year old Bobby Dolan (1-0) in only his second presence on the mound picked up his first win of the season ,He was relieved by Mike Greslow (1-0) and Lanny Fichette(0-0) .All three pitchers combined to give up 10 hits , strike out 3 batters and issue three base on balls .. Percy Tobobundung (1-2) started for the Cardinals and was tagged with his second loss of the season being relieved in the 5th frame by Walter Tobobundung ..Both pitchers gave up 13 hits , fanned 4 batters and issued one base on balls . Once again Mike Cain of the North Stars was the top hitter of the game going 2 for 3 including a three run shot to left field and tying the league record for home runs in two back to back games at three (Todd Parsons held the record established in 2009) with teammates Curtis Hambley ( double ,triple) and Mike Greslow (triple ,home run ) both hitting 2 for 3 while Walter Tobobundung (double ,triple) ,Pat Brennan and Percy Tobobundung(triple) all hit 2 for 3 in a losing cause for the Cardinals .
All teams across the region and Ontario are reminded of the 6th Annual Brad Rienguette “Shamou Shoot Out “ Northern Ontario Ladies and Men’s Fastball Championship up coming in 21 days from August the 19th to the 21st here in Sudbury Ontario .Up coming next is a feature that I call Roger here where I analyze the past season and comment on the up coming playoffs getting underway on Wednesday August the 10th .
This year’s regular season had all the makings of interesting scenarios until the veteran North Stars proved to be to strong for all three opponents most nights. The Cardinals tried to keep up but fell behind after a while. The hitting seemed to be there at times but with the long absence of pitcher Jonathan Contin , problems arose. The surprising Swick Hounds who were weak most of the season through low batting average as a team compiled with many fielding errors and an off year for Gary Lamothe surged in the late comings putting together a six game unbeaten string (5 wins and one tie)-the surprise return and presence of veteran Todd Parsons certainly made the difference as well as the much improved defense and pitching of Gary while the young bucks of Whitefish scattered their wins with some fine hitting , good defense and somewhat improved pitching ..
As we look on to this year’s edition of the playoffs, here is how I see it .I haven’t a magical ball but if I was a betting man, I would go this way:
Semi finals both best of 5 series this year for the first time : Series “Aâ€Â 4th place Whitefish Lake First Nation Falcons take on 1st place (defending champions) Sudbury North Stars : it’s the young bucks vs. the veterans - it’s possible the Falcons could come up with one win but as I see it , the North Stars should easily prevail in three ; Series “Bâ€Â between the Cardinals and the Hounds should be interesting: they’ve both played pretty even in most of their meetings but the Cardinals have fallen out of late with their hitting , come up with costly fielding errors and the absence of their leader on the mound could be in trouble while the Hounds have been surging of late in the past three weeks . If Contin for the Cardinals returns and Gary Lamothe keep showing that comeback form with both teams hitting and staying away from costly errors this series could be a good one and most likely go the distance. If Contin for some reason doesn’t return, you might see the Hounds in 3 or 4. It should be interesting. Players, friends of fastball go go go playoffs starting on Wednesday August the 10th in Whitefish Lake.
All team reps are reminded that we need an answer from them concerning the playoffs situation (Cardinals 9 PM games only ) , the days and fields to be used to be used by no later than Tuesday afternoon as well as who from your team will be attending Thursday night’s (location to be decided) most important meeting scheduled for 7 PM .
\Keep fit! See you at the meeting ! See you on the fastball diamonds !
Roger Legendre
League head statistician and public relations liaison/advisor
| 2011 RICK McDONALD MEMORIAL FASTBALL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS |
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| Using all three days (status quo ) |
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| Mondays in Azilda;Wednesdays in Whitefish and Thursdays in |
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| Garson |
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PLAN "A" |
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| Semi finals ( best of 5 series ) |
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| Series "A" Sudbury North Stars(1) VS Whitefish Lake Falcons (4) |
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game 1 |
at Whitefish 7 PM |
August 10th |
Wednesday |
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game 2 |
at Garson 7 PM |
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August 11th |
Thursday |
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game 3 |
at Azilda 7 PM |
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August 15th |
Monday |
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game 4 |
at Whitefish 7 PM |
August 17th |
Wednesday |
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game 5 |
at Garson 7 PM |
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August 18th |
Thursday |
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| Series "B" Swick Hounds of Garson (3) VS Pickerel River Cardinals (2) |
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game 1 |
at Whitefissh 9 PM |
August 10th |
Wednesday |
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game 2 |
at Garson 9PM |
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August 11th |
Thursday |
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game 3 |
at Azilda 9PM |
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August 15th |
Monday |
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game 4 |
at Whitefish 9PM |
August 17th |
Wednesday |
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game 5 |
at Garson 9PM |
August 18th |
Thursday |
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If necessary |
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| With this schedule using all three days as during the regular season ,the |
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| best of five league championship finals could start as early as |
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| early as Wednesday August the 17th in Whitefish or as late as |
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| Monday August the 22nd in Azilda .This will depend on the length of |
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| the semis and barring no unforseen cancellations or rain outs .I will |
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| not set up the schedule for the finals until we are deeper in the semis and |
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| and we know where we are possibly going in the plaoff run . |
playoff run . |
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| Roger statistician and playoff scheduler |
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