Post by Shannon Borho on Aug 18, 2007 16:15:21 GMT -5
The Blackburn Bombers mostly comprised of players from the BMFL went 1-3 at the ISC II World Tournament of Champions hosted in Kitchener and Cambridge Aug 14-18. The team had low expectations heading into the weekend hoping to be competitive, see some good ball, gain some experience and have fun.
The tournament started off with a bang as the boys picked up an exciting 1-0 extra inning win in their first game versus Dave "Farmer" Martin and the Jarvis Rock. It looked like the Bombers were going to take an early lead when Joe Allan crushed a ball to right field but the fielder climbed the wall and took a run off the board. Tyler Cox then came up with the quote of the game... "Looks like we're in the big league's now fellas, let's show we belong!" Eastmain Quebec pickup Ray Shanoush pitched a gem outdueling Martin while pitching out of many jams. Shanoush had 16 strikeouts, while giving up 9 hits but seemed to crank it up a notch when the Rock had runners aboard, Jarvis stranded 13 runners. Tyler Cox played the hero driving in Jamie Blakely who was aboard via the international tie-breaker rule for the game's only run in the top of the 8th with two out. Game MVP Steve Walman and Eric "Pedro" Sanchez had the other Bomber hits. Visit www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/15.htm for the game boxscore and play-by-play.
The Bombers second game was versus the top ranked Niagara. The team looked to play spoiler against the mighty Snappers and hung in there until the 5th when Niagara finally got to starting pitcher Shannon Borho with four runs breaking open a 2-2 tie. Blakely pitched well in relief giving up just a single run in two innings of work. Former senior pitcher Byron Demoe threw for the Snappers giving up two runs and five hits. Game MVP Joe Allan was outstanding in centrefield for the Bombers going 2-3 with a homer, triple and both RBI's. He also stole a run making a sliding over-the-shoulder catch in left-centre field for the third out in the 2nd inning. www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/21.htm
Just two hours later, the Bombers were back on the field to face the Wyevale Tribe, a squad who took the ISC Western Ontario Qualifier in Innerkip earlier in the season. Shanoush was back on the mound and got off to a rocky start giving up a walk followed by a 2-run shot to centrefield. The Bombers cut the lead to one in the third when consecutive singles by Allan, Terry Jones and Walman cashed in a run. After a tough 4th saw the Tribe jump to a 4-1 lead, again the Bombers fought back with two in the bottom half as Blakely reached on a hit-by-pitch and scored when Borho doubled. Tyler Cox came in to run for Borho and later scored on a ground out by Stefan Sklepowicz after a great play by the Wyevale 3B. After that though, the Bombers couldn't mount much offense against the Tribe reliever and the final score ended up 5-3. This left the Bombers with a must-win versus the Harriston Mercurys in their final round-robin game Thursday morning. www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/29.htm .
Ray Shanoush was back on the hill against a Mercury squad who was 1-1 coming into the game and faced off against 2004 ISC II all-tournament pitcher Scott Smith who earlier battled Niagara to a 2-1 extra-inning loss. In what was supposed to be a pitcher's duel was completely the opposite as both teams brought the big sticks. Both teams scored a run in the 1st as Walman scored Allen who singled and stole 2nd. In the 3rd, Harriston jumped to a 2-1 lead but the Bombers responded with a 3-spot jump up 4-2. Joel Langford and Allen singled and both scored on a Jones double. He went to 3rd on an error and scored on a Walman ground out. Harriston cut the lead to 4-3 in the 4th and then broke the game open with 7 in the 5th. Borho came on in relief but couldn't stop the bleeding as a couple of errors could have saved a few runs but the damage was done on just 4 hits. Knowing the 6-run mercy rule was going to end the game, the Bombers had to put a run on the board. Instead the team pushed across 3 as Langford tripled to start the inning, Allan then hit an infield single. Jones picked up his 3rd RBI of the morning with a single and Allan scored on a Walman sacrifice fly. With Jones on 3rd, Borho stroked a triple to the deep 275 ft. right field fence that enabled him to get to 3rd for a triple, but the team couldn't push him across. Ryan Cox then came for some relief work and had the Harriston batters baffled until a walk and an inside the park homerun in the 7th put the game out of reach. Steve Walman finished off the scoring in the bottom half with an exciting inside-the-park homerun of his own capping it off with a head-first slide into home to just beat the tag. That was it for the Bombers, finishing with a 12-8 loss and a 1-3 record, good for 4th in their division. www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/48.htm
Kudos to the team on a great week of ball. Every team member contributed in one way or another. Also thanks to all the fans/family members of the players who came out and cheered the Bombers on, we appreciated your support. For 3 of the 4 games, we had more fans present than our opponent when the other team only had to travel a short distance!!
Pitchers:
Ray Shanoush - Eastmain, QC
Shannon Borho - Blues
Jamie Blakely - Knights
Ryan Cox - Knights
Catchers:
Steve Walman - Blues
Stephane Vinette - Stan's Diner Draughts
Infielders:
Pedro Sanchez - A's
Joel Langford - Orleans Juniors
Terry Jones - A's
Tyler Cox - Knights
Stefan Sklepowicz - Knights
Outfielders:
Joe Allan - Guzzlers
Norm Manns - Blues
Kevin Shonfield - Guzzlers
The tournament started off with a bang as the boys picked up an exciting 1-0 extra inning win in their first game versus Dave "Farmer" Martin and the Jarvis Rock. It looked like the Bombers were going to take an early lead when Joe Allan crushed a ball to right field but the fielder climbed the wall and took a run off the board. Tyler Cox then came up with the quote of the game... "Looks like we're in the big league's now fellas, let's show we belong!" Eastmain Quebec pickup Ray Shanoush pitched a gem outdueling Martin while pitching out of many jams. Shanoush had 16 strikeouts, while giving up 9 hits but seemed to crank it up a notch when the Rock had runners aboard, Jarvis stranded 13 runners. Tyler Cox played the hero driving in Jamie Blakely who was aboard via the international tie-breaker rule for the game's only run in the top of the 8th with two out. Game MVP Steve Walman and Eric "Pedro" Sanchez had the other Bomber hits. Visit www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/15.htm for the game boxscore and play-by-play.
The Bombers second game was versus the top ranked Niagara. The team looked to play spoiler against the mighty Snappers and hung in there until the 5th when Niagara finally got to starting pitcher Shannon Borho with four runs breaking open a 2-2 tie. Blakely pitched well in relief giving up just a single run in two innings of work. Former senior pitcher Byron Demoe threw for the Snappers giving up two runs and five hits. Game MVP Joe Allan was outstanding in centrefield for the Bombers going 2-3 with a homer, triple and both RBI's. He also stole a run making a sliding over-the-shoulder catch in left-centre field for the third out in the 2nd inning. www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/21.htm
Just two hours later, the Bombers were back on the field to face the Wyevale Tribe, a squad who took the ISC Western Ontario Qualifier in Innerkip earlier in the season. Shanoush was back on the mound and got off to a rocky start giving up a walk followed by a 2-run shot to centrefield. The Bombers cut the lead to one in the third when consecutive singles by Allan, Terry Jones and Walman cashed in a run. After a tough 4th saw the Tribe jump to a 4-1 lead, again the Bombers fought back with two in the bottom half as Blakely reached on a hit-by-pitch and scored when Borho doubled. Tyler Cox came in to run for Borho and later scored on a ground out by Stefan Sklepowicz after a great play by the Wyevale 3B. After that though, the Bombers couldn't mount much offense against the Tribe reliever and the final score ended up 5-3. This left the Bombers with a must-win versus the Harriston Mercurys in their final round-robin game Thursday morning. www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/29.htm .
Ray Shanoush was back on the hill against a Mercury squad who was 1-1 coming into the game and faced off against 2004 ISC II all-tournament pitcher Scott Smith who earlier battled Niagara to a 2-1 extra-inning loss. In what was supposed to be a pitcher's duel was completely the opposite as both teams brought the big sticks. Both teams scored a run in the 1st as Walman scored Allen who singled and stole 2nd. In the 3rd, Harriston jumped to a 2-1 lead but the Bombers responded with a 3-spot jump up 4-2. Joel Langford and Allen singled and both scored on a Jones double. He went to 3rd on an error and scored on a Walman ground out. Harriston cut the lead to 4-3 in the 4th and then broke the game open with 7 in the 5th. Borho came on in relief but couldn't stop the bleeding as a couple of errors could have saved a few runs but the damage was done on just 4 hits. Knowing the 6-run mercy rule was going to end the game, the Bombers had to put a run on the board. Instead the team pushed across 3 as Langford tripled to start the inning, Allan then hit an infield single. Jones picked up his 3rd RBI of the morning with a single and Allan scored on a Walman sacrifice fly. With Jones on 3rd, Borho stroked a triple to the deep 275 ft. right field fence that enabled him to get to 3rd for a triple, but the team couldn't push him across. Ryan Cox then came for some relief work and had the Harriston batters baffled until a walk and an inside the park homerun in the 7th put the game out of reach. Steve Walman finished off the scoring in the bottom half with an exciting inside-the-park homerun of his own capping it off with a head-first slide into home to just beat the tag. That was it for the Bombers, finishing with a 12-8 loss and a 1-3 record, good for 4th in their division. www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/48.htm
Kudos to the team on a great week of ball. Every team member contributed in one way or another. Also thanks to all the fans/family members of the players who came out and cheered the Bombers on, we appreciated your support. For 3 of the 4 games, we had more fans present than our opponent when the other team only had to travel a short distance!!
Pitchers:
Ray Shanoush - Eastmain, QC
Shannon Borho - Blues
Jamie Blakely - Knights
Ryan Cox - Knights
Catchers:
Steve Walman - Blues
Stephane Vinette - Stan's Diner Draughts
Infielders:
Pedro Sanchez - A's
Joel Langford - Orleans Juniors
Terry Jones - A's
Tyler Cox - Knights
Stefan Sklepowicz - Knights
Outfielders:
Joe Allan - Guzzlers
Norm Manns - Blues
Kevin Shonfield - Guzzlers
