Just one run, but Toba reaches final

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/08/2017 (3018 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tanner Boyle’s brief appearance Thursday afternoon at Shaw Park produced monstrous results for Manitoba’s baseball squad at the Canada Summer Games.

Boyle drove in the game’s only run with a pinch-hit double in the bottom of the sixth inning to propel the hosts to a 1-0 semi-final victory over Alberta and a spot in Friday evening’s championship game.

Manitoba, assured of at least a silver medal, will go for gold against either Ontario or Saskatchewan, who collide tonight at Shaw Park in the other semi-final.

Boissevain’s Jared McCorrister clubbed a one-out double in the sixth and moved to third on a wild pitch. Relief pitcher Jordan Lussier came to the plate but couldn’t execute the squeeze bunt, hanging a running McCorrister out to dry at home for the second out of the inning.

Lussier then got plunked by a pitch and reached, setting the stage for Boyle’s drive to the opposite field.

The 16-year-old from Portage la Prairie said he was pumped for the chance to come off the bench and make some noise in his only plate appearance.

“I was excited honest, to have a chance to drive in that run,” said Boyle, who sent about 2,000 fans into a frenzy with heroics. “And it happened and I was shocked, honestly. I was 2-0 and looking for a fastball I could hit and drove it the other way.

“I was jumping up and down even before I got to second base. I was fired up.”

Manitoba had threatened in the bottom of the third inning as Ethan Walpole reached on a one-out single and Tristan Peters and Jon Patmore walked. But Jordan Peck jumped on the first pitch he faced and popped up to Alberta starting pitcher Brandon Woods.

Then, starting pitcher Noah Geekie flew out to right field.

In the fifth, the hosts had two on and two out but Woods struck out Peck with a fastball to get out of trouble.

With runners at second and third and one out, Alberta had a sensational chance to snap the scoreless tie in its half of the sixth. But poor base running cost them. Justin Breen hit a hard grounder to third base and Tucker Zdunich broke home but got caught in a rundown and was tagged out. Lussier then struck out Cesar Valero to wiggle out of the mess.

Geekie was a pillar of strength, pitching 51/3 strong innings while surrendering just three hits and a pair of walks, hitting one batter and striking out six. He also supplied a hit of his own and has a remarkable .571 average at the plate in Manitoba’s six straight triumphs this week.

He moved to the outfield and was replaced by Lussier, who got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the seventh as Alberta shortstop Matt Coutney hit a fly ball to right field that was snared by Geekie to end the contest.

“I saw that ball coming up and I was ready for that. You gotta be at that point in the game. Everybody’s hoping for a strikeout but in the outfield you gotta be ready for whatever happens,” said Geekie, 17, from Strathclair. “I just wanted to bear down and get that final out. As soon as I caught that ball, the fans and the players and the teammates went wild. It was unbelievable.”

Manitoba head coach Faron Asham said the club will take some time to celerate clinching a medal but isn’t satisfied just reaching the final.

“We’re not done. We’re going for gold. We’re going to put all hands on deck,” he said. “We know we’re in a good spot, I like where the boys are as far as their head frame of mind and we’re going to keep it going.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPJasonBell