Cannons claim title
It’s the final wrap of 2017. Over a season of many ups and downs for teams in the Niagara District Baseball Association senior men’s league, two teams remained this week and a champion was crowned in league playoffs.
The Fort Erie Cannons (2) defeated the Merritton Alliance (5) 2-1 in their best-of-three series and have won their second NDBA senior men’s title in the last three years.
Cannons took game one of the series 10-3 on Monday night, behind a complete-game winning performance by Matt Pine — capped off by a Kris Hodges grand-slam.
Pine cashed in three runs on offense as well, with a walk in the third and two-RBI hit in the fifth.
The home team needed just seven hits to earn the win and scored the bulk of their runs in the third and fifth innings.
Mark Fusco pitched five innings for the Alliance and picked up the loss, while brother Brett drove in the third run of the game.
Merritton headed back home on Wednesday for game two and sent out Dustin Jenckes to face Ryan Soltesz.
Jenckes was near perfect through the first four innings in the 8-4 win. The righthander outmatched his opponents throwing six strikeouts and allowing just five hits in six frames.
Ben Collins was the star on offense with three RBI. Adam Hope stole three bases and scored three times in the win. The Alliance would score four runs off Soltesz in the first two innings, putting the game out of reach right out of the gate.
In the third and final game on Thursday night, the underdogs in Merritton came back to Fort Erie matching Kyle Parris on the mound against Zak Porter for the Cannons.
The rubber match was easily the cherry on top of the series. Steve Oleniuk – batting fifth – started off the game with a statement grandslam to straightaway center field, sending literal fireworks off at Oakes Park and giving the Cannons an early 4-0 lead.
Robin Kellar would add a 2RBI single in the inning to send Porter back into the game with a 6-0 lead.
In the second stanza, Porter was hit with a come-backer on the pitching hand and needed a moment to collect himself. Porter pitched the complete game and allowed three runs and pitched 5 2/3 innings with considerable bruising on his knuckle.
When speaking with the southpaw after the contest, first star of the game admitted he believed his hand was broken.
“You just got to gut it out, you always have to gut it out,” Porter said. “Everybody guts it out. Cam (Hall) hurt himself, hurt his hamstring and he kept going… The win feels amazing, especially with the OBA win a few years ago as well. We’re only getting stronger and getting better.”
The Cannons would ultimately take game three 10-3, just as they did three nights prior. If nothing else this post-season, the Cannons offense was as relentless as the heart shown by the Alliance players.
“We knew after beating the Thorns that we were ready,” Allaince manager Larry Stephens said. “I had a belief that we would be here just the way things were going at the end of the season. These guys, they don’t quit until the last pitch and it shows the kind of character they have.”
The Alliance trailed in each series they played — going down 1-0 to both the Thorns and Alliance before storming back in every series.
“We play as a team, we win as a team and we lose as a team. Hats off to the Cannons. In the beginning, when we first joined the league they were a team that could always hit the ball but their defense was a little rusty…
Not anymore. You have to come in here and play a good game if you want to win. So, hats off to them. They played well and they deserved the championship.”
“Each series went three games for us, it wasn’t easy,” Cannons manager Justin Hall said. “Every team game us a battle which is great for our league. It’s showing the balance is there and teams are getting better.”
Both teams had a treacherous road to the finals.
The Cannons played the Thorold Fantoms and Welland Chiefs on their way to the title match, with dramatic moments laced all the way through. Gutsy pitching performances, clutch defense — like Giampaolo’s threerun homer to send his team to the final – and the offense alone were reasons for the Cannons to celebrate. Fort Erie scored 71 runs in their nine playoff games and scored 10 runs four times.
“This is tight group of guys. They come here every day wanting to play,” Hall said. “We have good chemistry and we gel together well… Next year, we won’t be an easy team to beat, I hope we have the same balance we had this year. But, it certainly won’t be easy to repeat.”
The Alliance battled tooth and nail all playoffs long. They played two extra-inning contests against the Thorns in round one before pulling off a 6-2 win in game three of the series. They would move on to play the firstseeded Niagara Falls Expos in round two, outmatching the league champions in a threegame set in which they trailed in every game.