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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-09-07, Page 2Rob Plunkett bunts in first inning of final game. 1 40 ford 24ln 1luai -ries loaded t forces in wince run . the ' t�w�11� w�t�. t�v® �� It may well have been a triumph of experience over youth. • Regardless, the B championship game, in which Walton nipped Goderich Bedford Hotel 2-1 Monday, was one of the finest games produced by any two teams in either division of the Goderich Men's Fastball Tour- nament. Thirty-two teams par- ticipated M the 15th edition of the Labour Day Tour- nament but when the dust settled in the B Division championship game Mon- day, a partisan crowd in the hundreds was buzzing over the nine inning classic. ' The game produced a classic pitching duel bet- ween veteran Rick ' MacDonald of Walton and Rob Plunkett of Goderich. Ironically, it was a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth with two out, that decided the championship. Plunkett deserved better fate, having pitched over 20 innings of superb ball throughout the weekend, but his walk to leadoff batter Roger Humphries, forced Gary Bennet home with the winning run. Both teams reached the championship game by virtue of three straight victories in the cham- pionship round of the B division. And both pitchers figured prominently in their respective teams success. For Walton, it WAS their second B Division cham- pionship. Four year ago McDonald pitched shutout ball and then smacked a solo homer ina 1= win for the championship. Their second Victory didn't come easily though. Bedford Hotel got to McDonald'early In the game scoring in the top of the first inning, taking advantage of a suspect Walton defence. Gary Peters led off with a walk, stole second and scored when Jim Crawford reached hese on an error. Waltonof that run back in their half of the first as Murray Houston was hit in the helmut with a pitch with one out but was forced at second on Gerry Feenlay's grounder. Rick McDonald followed with a single and Gary Bennett chipped in with a single that scored Feeney but McDonald was thrown out at the plate by Mark Frayne as he tried to score. , From that point on the score remained tied at 14 but the game remained exciting as both teams committed several errors but always sandwiched a sparkling play in between to keep the oppostion honest. Both teams enjoyed several scoring opportunities throughout the game. In their half of the second, Bedford squandered an opportunity to take the lead. With one out, Frayne slashed a triple down the right field line but was left stranded as McDonald struck out Brian MacKenzie and got Brian Sowerby to ground out. Bedford bats were relatively quiet until the top half of the seventh when Bill Black reached base on an error and gave way to pinch runner Joe Moore. Frayne then hammered a McDonald pitch to deep right centre but Moore was thrown out at the plate trying to score the go- ahead. run. Instead of having runners at second and third with nobody out, McDonald had one outand one runner on. He left Frayne standing at third base as he got MacKenzie to ground out to second and then struck out Sowerby. Walton was not without opportunities either. Bill Shortreed led off the fifth with a triple but Plunkett' struck out Brad Knight and Jim McDonald grounded out to second and Terry Austin's relay to home doubled off Shortreed to end the inning. Walton put men on in both the seventh and eighth in- nings but both tunes Plunkett and his defence came out unscathed. Time, however, ran out on the cardiac kids in the ninth inning. Bedford Hotel went down meekly in the top of the ninth and then dug themselves a deep hole out in the field. Walton loaded the bases with none out and it appeared certain the situation would produce the winning run. Gary Bennett led off with a single to right and Mrc Robinet put runners at first and second when he pushed a .bunt past Plunkett. Shor- treed followd with a sharp single to right to load the bases with none out. Plunkett then got Knight to hit a soft fly to Sutton at short for the first out. The game should have been over as Jim McDonald hit a line shot between first and second but Crawford got a glove on the ball, knocked the liner down and threw to home for the force and the second out. With two out, catcher Roger Humphries was more than patient at the plate. He built up a 3-1 count and then watched as Plunkett delivered a pitch low and outside to walk in the winning run. McDonald, who pitched all four games for Walton in the tournament, was selected as the Moat Valuable Player in the 13 Division and was presented with a watch, courtesy of Carling -O'Keefe, at the conclusion of the championship game. Team. mate, and battery mate, Roger Humphries, was selected as the most sporr • tsmanlike player in the 13 Division. 106"!OWOWOORP,404440 *A, t 4A40. oK S� MEN'S & LADIES' BAUER TARGA $2299 Reg. 1'29.99 Reg. '? 4.99 GUYS & GALS DESIGNER JEANS&CORDS $2699 ( huo..e Irnm 4I1(h brand nano', a. Big Blue, Sc roti h, Spider and Pearl. PR. Regular to s40. LADIES' MEN'S& BOYS' FOX FASHION SHIRTS & BLOUSES FF $2 499 SWEATERS 20' Regular to s34. O ALL MEN'S& LADIES' LADIES' OSAGA RUGGER % TRAINING PANTS OFF SUITS OFF BROOkS SUPRA COURT --L OW 111149$ 99 Kati . . ()SAGA BACK TO "HOCKEY" SCHOOL VALUES BOYS' JUNIOR COOPERALL GIRDLE AND IONG PANTS COOPER HOCKEY GLOVES �I, zli $3999 $2999 heti;. °.41.99 BAUER JR. SUPREME SKATES BOYS KNEE HIGH SOCKS LOUISVILLE MAGNUM 5 HO(KFYSTI(K Rel{. `14.911 ea. TITAN T.M.P. JR, STCKEY 2/21.99 BAUER SPORT $ BAG SALE Reg. $16.99 99 We Honour VISA and MASTER( ARD SHOP 4 THE SQUARE GODERICH DOWNTOWN PHONE 524-2822 Thirty-two teams participated in the Tournament on the weekend. annual Goderich Men's Fastball Wingham BPs win A The Wingham BPs weren't about to play the bridesmaid role for the second year in a row. Last year the BPs lost to DHalo Tedr:L)ilts in the A inion chatnpionship game and settled for the runnerup cheque. This year, however, they made no mistake about their intentions as they won four straight games to claim the A Division championship Monday hammering Petrolia Pizza Factory in the final of the Goderich Men's Fastball Tournament. The Wingham BPs, always contenders in the Labour Day tournament, had little trouble disposing of Sarnia Lamco in its opening game of the tournament Friday. But its second game of the tournament Sunday against Corunna was one of the best played games of the tour- nament. Wingham even- tually won it 1-0 in the bottom of the 12th inning. Corunna had a chance to blow the game open in the second inning putting run- ners on second and third with nobody out but winning pitcher D. Burns got two outs on the ground and a third on a pop up to stymie the rally. Their only other real scoring opportunity came in the ninth when two batters reached base but the Wingham defence again closed the door. Wingham put together a rally in the bottom of the seventh that should have produced the winning run before the threat of extra innings. With one out Brown doubled and Blackwell followed with a single to put runners at second and third. However, Bieman struck out and B. Pegg flied to left to end the inning. Neither team had good scoring chances in extra innings until the bottom of the 12th. B. Armstrong led off the Wingham 12th with a walk and stole second. Losing pitcher Lamb, looked like he might get out of the inning with two pop ups but Bieman delivered a single to score Armstrong with the winning run. In the semi-final, Wingham exploded for five runs on four hits in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie and go on to defeat Lucknow 6-1. Each team had scored once in the first inning and game remained tied until Wingham broke it open in the fourth. Ron Smith led the Wingham offence with two trips in three at bats. He knocked in two runs and scored two others. Windsor coach delivers sign in an A division game and a Driftwood batter attempts a bunt in final action Monday. Thirty- two teams participated in the four-day event. (Photos by Dave Sykes) Don Edgar went the distance for the BPs and stopped Lucknow on just four hits. The key blow was a Dave Black double in the first that scored Keith Raymond with the only Lucknow run. Petrolia, always a con- tender in the Goderich tournament, was no match for Wingham in the A division final, as the BPs win 9-0. In the A division con- solation championship, Sarnia Micor Sports scored runs in bunches and went on to defeat Sarnia Lamco 9-0. Micor defeated Windsor in the semi-final. Cowboys edge Wilkesport 2-1 to win consolation Henderson Gulf Cowboys, formerly Terry's Cowboys of Ingersoll, nipped Wilkesport 2-1 to win the B Division consolation championship at the Goderich Men's Fastball Tournament Monday. The Cowboys, the defending B Division champions lost their first game to Bryanston Saturday and were forced into the consolation round. Wilkesport dropped its opening round game to Alvinston. There were few hits in the consolation final and the game remained scoreless through three innings. In the top of the fourth, however, the Cowboys grabbed a one - run lead. Bill, Jordan led off the inning with a walk but was still standing on first base two outs later. Centre fielder Mike Burtram then delivered a two -out double to score Jordan with the game's first run. The one -run lead held until the top of the seventh inning when Ingersoll struck again. Bruce Fleming started the seventh with a sharp single and he raced home as Burtram delivered his second double of the game. Burtram was left stranded and Henderson Gulf carried a two -run lead into the bottom half of the seventh- Wilkesport, held to a few hits through six innings, finally came alive in the seventh. With two out, Farr tripled and scored on a single by R. Joseph up the middle. Winning pitcher Ken Gar- dham then put the flame out by getting J. Arnold to pop up for the final out of the r"ame.