St. Thomas Extends Series with Alvinston Indians

September 30, 2014

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ST. THOMAS EXTENDS SERIES

 
The Alvinston Indians were on home turf on Monday evening, for game three of the St. Thomas & District Major Fastball League Championship final.  The Indians lead the series 2-0, but the veteran St. Thomas Storm had a gutsy effort in game three, paced by pitcher Ryan Cummings and outfielder Mark Coleman.
 
St. Thomas scored in the first inning, when Kevin Lynch walked, and Mark Coleman singled, putting runners on first and second with one out.  The next hitter was former Alvinston Indian Jeff Ingram, and he doubled on a 0-2 pitch, scoring Lynch for the game's first run.  Indians starter Kyle Crawford retired the next two hitters via infield fly balls to end the threat.
 
Alvinston however, replied quickly in their half of the first inning.  Joe Triest bunted on the opening pitch, and an error by the Storm third baseman, allowed Triest to reach third base, as the ball was thrown away.  The next hitter was Craig Lyons, and he earned himself a single, when the Storm shortstop and third baseman got their signals crossed up, and the ball went between them, evening the score at 1-1 as Triest scored. 
 
The game remained tied, with both pitchers ending threats by the opposition in the fourth inning.  Neither offence seemed to be able to get the big hit to put their team in front.  That changed in the top of the sixth inning, when Coleman singled for a third time in the contest, stole second base, advanced to third via a wild pitch, and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Wismer.  That would end up being the winning run in the game, to push the series to game 4 in Fingal on Thursday evening at 7:30pm. 
 
Alvinston had a shot in the seventh, as Brad Cooper reached base with one out via an infield error.  Pinch runner Bryan Johnson stole second base and advanced to third via an errant throw, but the next two Alvinston batters struckout, as Cummings was masterful for the Storm. 
 
Cummings was the winning pitcher, allowing one unearned run.  He allowed only three hits on the evening, while fanning 16 Alvinston batters in the win.  Kyle Crawford was not to blame, as he had an impressive effort as well for the Indians, allowing 2 earned runs over seven innings of work, with ten strikeouts, one walk, one hit batsmen, and five hits allowed.   
 
Hope to see a great crowd in Fingal on Thursday for game 4 at 7:30pm.