Tommies claim provincial crown
Published Monday October 6th, 2008
The James M. Hill High School Tommies are the New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association high school baseball champions.
JMH clinched the title with a 4-3 win over the St. Malachy's Saints from Saint John in dramatic fashion Saturday at Ironmen Field in Miramichi.
With two on and one out in the bottom of the seventh, Tanner Henry would step to the plate for the Tommies with the game tied 3-3. After struggling most of the day, Henry would slap a single off Saints pitcher Troy Price.
Aaron Noel, who led off the inning with a double, came in from home as the JMH dugout emptied with players yelling and screaming in celebration. As players swamped Noel and Henry at home, Saints players gathered around Price who pitched a solid game, consoling him after the JMH win.
JMH head coach Ken Martin praised Henry for his clutch hit.
"Tanner was struggling a little bit and he came up and he was tough in the end and won it," he said.
The championship game did not disappoint the parents and fans of both schools who braved the biting wind and single digit temperatures to cheer on their teams.
To win the provincial title the Tommies actually had to come from behind as they found themselves down early in the contest.
The Saints' Walker Blizzard led off the game with a single in centre of Tommies pitcher Jeff McCarthy before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt from Nic Lavine. George Northrup then hit what should have been an easy out down the third base line to Henry, but the JMH third baseman threw the ball away and into centre as the runners moved to second and third.
JMH would intentionally walk Anthony Foley to load the bases, looking for the double play, but Eric Hatfield would drive one down the first base line, past the glove of a diving Pat Losier to two runs. The Tommies would get out of the inning, giving up two runs on two hits and one error.
The Tommies would cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. With two out and the bases loaded it was a wild pitch that would allow Tyler McKay to run in from third to cut Saints' lead to 2-1.
They would tie the game 2-2 in the third. With AJ Gosse on third, McCarthy would hit an infield shot that would drive the run and end up safe himself on a bad play at first base, but the Saints would get out of the inning giving up just the one run.
St. Malachy's would re-take the lead in the fifth. With two out and two on, McKay, catching for the Tommies, would drop the ball on third strike Foley. McKay would pick up the ball and throw it to first but not in time, allowing a Saints runner to score and putting the Saint John team up 3-2.
With Cody Dickson on second, Joey Martin would get a piece of the ball for an infield shot. He would be thrown out but collide with the first baseman, allowing Dickson to come around and score to tie the game 3-3 and set up the dramatic ending in the seventh.
Ken Martin said it was great to win the championship this season as he hinted at retirement.
"Wonderful. I think this is my last year and what a way to go out. That was a wonderful game, our guys played great and [the Saints] played great," he said.
The Tommies advanced to the final with a 2-0 win over Fredericton's Leo Hayes Lions in the second semi-final of the day. The Tommies scored runs in the first and third to secure the win. There was some controversy in the sixth as Tommies pitcher Aaron Noel, who threw 12 strikeouts in the game, picked off Gordon Banks at first.
The Lion protested and was ejected by first base umpire Philip McGee. He then ejected Banks and two Leo Hayes coaches who protested the call.
In the first semi-final Moncton's Bernice MacNaughton Highlanders fell 5-0 to the Saints.
More Sports
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
