Battle of the border
Niagara senior men’s all-stars host the best from Buffalo in Welland exhibition game
It’s all-star week in the Niagara District Baseball Association’s senior men’s division.
At least one player from each of the eight teams in the league will represent this side of the border in a battle for bragging rights against all-stars from a senior men’s league in Buffalo.
The 5 p.m. exhibition game, which will go nine innings and use a designated hitter, will be played Saturday at Welland Stadium. Admission is free.
This week in league play the Welland Chiefs remain in first place as they improve to 15-4 with five games remaining in the regular season.
Welland went 3-0 in the past week to move two games ahead of the defending playoff champion Niagara Falls Expos, 12-5; in the standings. After sweeping the Merritton Alliance, 6-10; on the road Tuesday night – taking a 10-8 decision in the opener, 6-3 in the nightcap – the Chiefs silenced the Cannons 5-1 the following night, also on the road.
The loss snapped Fort Erie’s winning streak at two games and dropped the third-place Cannons to 10-6 in league play.
Looming in Fort Erie’s rearview mirror are the 9-6 Rose City Thorns, only half a game behind following a 5-2 victory over the visiting St. Catharines Cobras, 4-13; Wednesday night at Welland Stadium.
Neither the Expos nor their cotenants at Oakes Park, the Niagara Falls Falcons Juniors, 7-9; took the field last week, with the fifth-place Falcons’ lone game rained out and the Expos getting a week off.
Also remaining on the sidelines during the past week were the 1-11 Thorold Fantoms, who have to play six games within the next two weeks and 12 before the regular season wraps up Aug. 13.
Thorns starter pitches gem
Travis Doyle pitched a complete-game, two-hitter and the visiting Rose City Thorns exploded for five runs in the top of the fifth inning for a 5-2 victory over the St. Catharines Cobras.
Rose City, taking the field for the first time since July 10 following two rainouts, won its second in a row, while the Cobras lost their third straight.
The Rose City Thorns defeated the St. Catharines Cobras on Saturday night in comeback fashion and improved to 9-6 overall – just one game behind the third place Cannons in the Niagara District senior men’s division standings.
Colin Connelly scored on a passed ball in the first inning and crossed the plate on an RBI single from Brad Vaters two innings later to put St. Catharines up 2-0.
Doyle cruised through the rest of the game, allowing no hits and four walks through the final four innings. to pick up the win.
“We’re working our way to the top every day now,” said Doyle, who walked five and struck out nine in the route-going performance.
“We’re working our way up to the top slowly and we’re trying to get back to that first-place position.”
Cobras starter Ryan Gacnik retired nine of the first 12 batters he faced before allowing four runs on four walks and one hit in the fifth inning.
Two-bases loaded walks tied the score at 2-2 and knocked Gacnik out of the game in favour of relief pitcher Matthew Jackson with one out in the fifth.
Jackson surrendered a two-run double to Matt Roy, the first batter he faced. Roy went home on a Mike Piazza’s single to round out the scoring.
“A hit like that keeps us going and gets us in the lead, gives our pitcher a break,” Roy said. “(Doyle) pitched great after 57 pitches in the first inning, but he settled in and he was throwing it past them the whole game.”
Roy, 2-for-3; Zac Decker, 2-fo-4; Zack MacDonald, 1-for-3; Drake Nadeau, 1-for-3; and Mike Piazza, 1-for-4; collected hits for the Thorns who made two errors in the game.
Joe Meisener collected the other hit for St. Catharines which was charged with one error.
Gacnik was tagged with the loss after giving up four earned runs on four hits and five walks in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out seven before giving the ball to Jackson who was charged with one earned run, three hits, one walk and two strikeouts over the final 2 2/3 innings.
“We couldn’t get that key hit,” Cobras manager Frank Iker said. “We left a lot of runners on third. Had we gotten a couple more clutch hits – especially, when we had the 2-0 lead – it might have been a different game.”
Thorns will try to jump a halfgame into third place with a win against Fort Erie on Friday night at Welland Stadium. On Sunday, they will play a road-home doubleheader against the Fantoms with the opener 2 p.m. in Thorold and the nightcap in Welland beginning at 7.
The loss officially knocked the Cobras out of contention for first place. St. Catharines will host the Cannons in a Sunday afternoon tilt.