Giants three-time champs

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This article was published 24/08/2020 (2033 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Zach Delaquis lived out every ballplayer’s dream Monday night at Koskie Field.

The 20-year-old Elmwood catcher dug in at the plate with no outs in the bottom half of the seventh inning of a tied game, the bases full and a league championship on the line.

And he delivered.

Delaquis’ long sacrifice fly to right field allowed Darnell Wyke to scamper home from third and score the decisive run as the Giants posted a 5-4 triumph over the Altona Bisons to secure their third consecutive Manitoba Junior Baseball League title.

Elmwood swept the best-of-five series 3-0.

“Honestly, getting to that moment and being the guy to be able to bring the run in, it’s a great feeling. It’s indescribable, really,” said Delaquis, moments after being mobbed by his teammates. “To have the boys come to me to celebrate a three-peat championship, there’s no feeling like it. It’s awesome.”

Delaquis said he was looking for a high fastball from Altona pitcher Simon Friesen and was offered something he could drive.

“I just wanted to put the ball into play somewhere. I wanted a fastball up in the zone and I just smashed it… got the barrel of the bat on it,” he said.

Baseball Canada has scrapped all national championships for the 2020 season owing to the COVID-19 pandemic but the Giants have punched their ticket to the 2021 Western Canadian championship, set for Stonewall just over a year from now.

Elmwood shortstop Owen Harms, one of a half-dozen Giants around for all three league victories, said the magic feeling never gets old.

“The first year was sweet. Then we came back and won it again and that was amazing. Now, to do it with this group of guys is just awesome,” said Harms, 20. “This team has fight. We’re never out of it. No matter what the score is — we could be down eight — but we’re always in it.”

In fact, the Giants trailed by a pair in the sixth inning after Jesse Dowswell’s squeeze bunt scored Friesen from third and then Denton Mateychuk immediately singled home Jayden Gerbrandt for a 3-1 Altona lead. But Owen Nychyk raced home on a wild pitch and then Dylan Duguay belted a two-run triple off Friesen to lift the Giants into the lead.

Friesen pulled the visitors even at 4-4 in the top half of the seventh with a hard single up the middle off Giants reliever Kevin Burnett to score Braden Hildebrand in the top of seven, and then went back to work on the hill. Wyke worked to a 3-and-2 count before slicing a single, Justin Scott walked and then Dawson Tanner reached safely on a bunt, setting the stage for Delaquis.

Bisons manager Curt Letkeman praised the work of his starter, who bounced back from a rough outing in Game 1 on Saturday with a sensational effort in enemy territory. Friesen gave up just one run on three hits and a walk through five innings while fanning four batters before some troubles in the final two innings.

Several of the Bisons’ best arms returned to school down south the last few weeks.

“(Friesen) was basically our last pitcher. After that, our catcher was going in but he gutted it out,” said Letkeman. “I can’t say enough about how he battled against a good-hitting team.”

“Generally, by the third or fourth time through the batting order they’ll start timing things up, and they were. Under normal circumstances we would have gone to the pen but we just didn’t have anybody else.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys the way they hung in there. That’s a hell of a team (Giants) over there.”

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Elmwood manager Ed Kulyk said his lineup was confounded by the movement on Friesen’s tosses until deep into the evening.

“He was on fire. We just couldn’t pick up the curveball,” he said. “Finally, we figured out if the curve started out low, the boys started to lay off and wait for something else. Once that happened, the boys barrelled up some balls. Dawson Tanner had an amazing game, from pounding one to the fence (triple) to laying down a bunt.

“I’m numb right now. These boys were locked in. (The Bisons) took the lead and our guys were not concerned. We knew we had last at-bats at home and it showed.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell