LOOKING FOR LUMBER
Charlottetown meets Chatham Saturday at Memorial Field
Bats struggling for last-place Islanders, says sports columnist Fred MacDonald in Fiddler’s Facts
The Charlottetown Islanders meet the Chatham Ironmen Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field in a New Brunswick Senior Baseball League doubleheader, with the first pitch expected at 2 p.m. sharp.
The Islanders (2-9) are last in the tough five-team loop while Chatham (8-5) leads Saint John (9-6) by 15 percentage points. Fredericton and Moncton are at 5-4 and 6-6 in the league, which Charlottetown represented last fall at the nationals in New Brunswick.
The Islanders do not have the lumber they had last season as Sean Corcoran, Dylan McKenna and Andrew MacDonald are missing this summer due to school and work commitments.
In addition, the Islanders are without all-star catcher Morgan MacLean, who is on the shelf with a knee injury and may not be back until later in the season.
The catcher duties are now handled by Josh MacKinnon and young Grant Grady, who also covers the hot corner.
Nevertheless the Islanders still have a top-notch pitching staff with Brody MacDonald (0-2, one save) sporting a sparkling 1.35 earned-run average – fourth best in the league.
Hard-throwing right-hander Jordan Stevenson is as good as any righty in the league, but his record is 1-3 with a 3.24 ERA. Jake Beck is another reliable senior pitcher who has pitched well enough to win, but like the other starters has lacked offensive support.
Chatham has two of the league’s top hitters in Cody Dickson (.350) and Jeff Walkin (.333) as well as two of the best pitchers in JF Neveu (2-2, 1.90 ERA) and Alex Person (1-0), who has fanned 17 batters in 14 innings and has not allowed an earned run this summer.
Four of the best senior pitchers in the Maritimes will be in action today at Memorial Field, so it’s a doubleheader worth watching.
News and Notes
- General manager George MacPhee and his Vegas Golden Knights’ scouting staff have assembled a stockpile of draft picks and young players for head coach Gerard Gallant, who has a history of developing top young talent into top NHL players.
The Knights grabbed Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault from the Florida Panthers, which I’m sure pleased Gallant and assistant coach Mike Kelly. The Vegas club has a quality all-star goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury and a group of young defenders like Colin Miller, Griffin Reinhart and Trevor van Riemsdyk, who could blossom under Gerard. The Knights will not be last in their division, bet on it.
- Former University of Alberta hockey coach Clare Drake has been selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame. I believe he is the first university coach to be honoured and with six national titles he deserves it. I believe he has relations on P.E.I.
- Don Matthews, the great CFL head coach who passed away two weeks ago, has relatives in the Tignish area, and hockey star Connor McDavid’s grandmother is from the St. Peter’s area. Gotta love this little Island.
Harness racing
Please note the change in venue as live harness racing at Charlottetown is switched to Sunday afternoon while the traditional July 1 date is always in Summerside, so Saturday is live in Summerside
The baby races at the city track attracted a big crowd last Monday evening as 10 races went behind the gate. Bettim Jackie opened the two-year-old card with a sizzling 2:01:2 score as trainer, co-owner Jeff Lilley stays hot.
New sires were prominent as Westwardho Hanover sent out a winner while Meridian Farms owned Pang Shui showcased two winners, including a Jamie Smith-trained colt named Wilfrid Joseph who impressed in winning easily in 2:04:1.
This colt is owned by Judy MacDonald, Mike’s wife whose father and Mike’s father were both Wilfrid.
You can rest assured this colt will be a sentimental favourite in these parts.
New trot sire Armbro Bannister boasted two freshmen winners as did the powerhouse sire Tad the Stud.
Other two-year-old winners were by Western Paradise and Articulator.
Dr. Ian Moore appears to have another great stable of top two- and three-year-olds. Classic Pro is being readied for the Meadowlands Pace in two weeks time after a very impressive fourth in the North American Cup.
Moore qualified a number of two-year-olds a few days ago including a good looking Shadow Play colt called Atomic Seelster, co-owned by Moore, Shawn Murphy of Charlottetown and Darcy Murphy of Saint John, N.B. The two-year-old colt has been in 1:56, so he could be a monster.
Anthony MacDonald has sent four of his top trotters to Andrew Harris at Pocono. Canale Hanover (1:59), Cruising in Style (1:58:3) and Lawmaker (1:58:4) are all PA sired.
The $500,000 Max C Hempt final goes Saturday night and Fear the Dragon, who was upset by Miso Fast in 1:49 and change, has the rail.
Classic Pro and Huntsville skipped the Hempt and are not in to go.