Legionaires on brink of ending Giants’ dynasty

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2023 (824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

James Pinchin saved his best at-bat for last, and it has the St. Boniface Legionaires on the precipice of the club’s first Manitoba Junior Baseball League title since 2010.

With Game 2 of the MJBL championship tied in the bottom of the seventh — and final — inning, and two runners aboard with no outs, the Legionaires left-fielder lined a ball into right field to score Michael Wright, to complete a 7-6 comeback victory over the Elmwood Giants and take a 2-0 stranglehold on the best-of-five series at Whittier Park on Tuesday.

“I was pretty cold all day,” said Pinchin, whose walk-off hit was his only knock of the night. “(Giants’ pitcher Easton Toews) threw me a first-pitch fastball last time, I knew I was going to get it again. It was right in my wheelhouse and I just didn’t miss it.

“It was just another game. A 2-0 lead is nice and all, but in the semis, we were down 2-0 (to the Carillon Sultans) and we ended up reverse sweeping so we know it’s not comfy. Nothing really changed, just show up and get the job done.”

After a lopsided 7-1 victory in Game 1, the Legionaires didn’t look like the same club out of the gates. The hosts burned through three different pitchers in the first five innings while the offence didn’t generate a hit until the fourth inning.

The Giants quickly drew first blood in the opening inning for a consecutive contest, this time with a pair of scores. It didn’t appear as though the five-time reigning champs would look back on this night, as starting pitcher Elie Feierstein was on cruise-control while the offence built the cushion to as much as 5-1 by the fifth inning.

A four-run inning for the hosts in the fifth drew things even, however, and after the clubs traded runs in the sixth, the stage was set for the Legionaires to walk it off.

“The biggest thing coming into today, not only with the game and the elements there, you’re coming to battle in weather,” said Legionaires head coach Jason Evanochko. “It’s a humid day… it just felt like we started the game and energy was down.

“There was that adversity and there was that confidence that came back, and that belief kept up and chipped away. We had a big inning, brought some life back to the bench and we brought some guys in that were able to do the job.”

Wright, who also contributed two hits as a first baseman in the contest, was the most stable arm for the hosts on a night they used five hurlers, registering five strikeouts while allowing five hits and just one earned run in three innings of work.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Zach Evanochko (one hit and a run batted in) and Liam Agar (one hit and a walk) both scored twice on a night that saw eight of the Legionaires nine starting batters register at least one hit.

“I think we learned a lot about ourselves through the season,” said Evanochko. “At the beginning, we started on the other end, we took a few games to extra innings and we were on the losing side of that. And then we went through a good streak and we got back so I think we learned how to deal with adversity early and I think it’s helped us now, where it’s (never) over.”

The Legionaires will have a chance to snap a 13-year title drought and sweep the championship series in Game 3 at Koskie Field today.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam

Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.