Dunfield has ‘eyes like a hawk’
Windsor Knights to host NSIBL championship tournament Aug. 25-26
After a number of years coming close, the Windsor Knights finally clinched the right to host the Nova Scotia Intermediate Baseball League’s championship weekend Aug. 25-26.
The Knights received word it would be hosting after recording four recent wins.
Most recently, the Knights defeated the Truro Bearcats 9-4 and 13-2 on Aug. 5.
The 13-2 game was called after five innings because of the mercy rule.
In the 9-4 game, Devan Dunfield and Derek Hart both homered, with Dunfield picking up two RBIs while catcher Tristan Horner con- nected for a triple and a double.
The previous weekend, on July 29, the Knights swept the Bearcats by scores of 4-3 in 13 innings and 10-0 in a game called after five innings.
The Knights are now 16-6 on the season and hold down first place entering their final two games of the season, which were to be played Aug. 12 against the Kennetcook Braves in Noel Road.
The Knights earned the right to host the four-team championship because the team was in first place after all games were completed after the first weekend of August.
Knights’ pitcher and veteran player Paul Humphreys said the team had hoped to have a successful season but was pleasantly surprised by the results.
“After last season, we saw plenty of potential and felt our younger guys would show even more maturity this season, and we were not disappointed as Devan Dunfield, Joe Beaton, Cory Whitney and Austin Sabean have all been playing exceptional ball both offensively and defensively,” he said.
He said Dunfield has “eyes like a hawk at the plate.”
Austin Sabean pitched the game of the season on July 29 as he threw all 13 innings in the onerun Knights win, striking out nine batters and walking only a pair of hitters. The Knights hit four doubles during this game, two by Derek Hart, and singles by Dunfield and Dave Swindall.
The Knights scored their winning run in the bottom of the 13th as Humphreys led off the inning, being hit by a pitch, and scored the winning run when Sabean was hit by a pitch.
In the 13- 2 win, Beaton homered and Dunfield delivered a pair of doubles while Humphreys recorded the pitching win.
Humphreys said Sabean will not return to the rotation, likely until the playoffs, as he is currently suffering from what is believed to be a dislocated elbow.
Season wrapping up
The Sherose Island Schooners, who held first place for most of the season, fell back to second with a 14-8 record, good for 50 points, after splitting a doubleheader in Shelburne County with the Noel Road Jays.
The Jays lost the opener 4-3 but rallied to win the second game 5-3 on July 28.
The Jays then defeated the Kennetcook Braves 8-1 on Aug. 7.
With the loss, the Braves fell 1-17 on the season and were not expected to give the Knights much trouble Aug. 12.
The Knights needed only one win against the Braves to clinch first place on the season, while the Schooners would require a sweep of a home twin bill against Hantsport and the Knights losing at least once. The Shamrocks could finish anywhere between third and fifth place, depending on how the team does in its games with the Schooners and its twinbill to close the season on Aug. 18 in Hantsport against Kennetcook.
The Noel Road Jays, meanwhile, have a slim shot at finishing first but it would require the Knights and Schooners to lose all of the remaining games while the Jays would have to win all four of the remaining games.