St. Thomas Blessed Again
Levy hits a walk off in 9th
There were more than one hundred homers hit in the tourney but it was #21 Dale Levy's ninth inning blast that cemented the repeat title for St. Thomas in the final game against the home town Prince George Black Bears.
It sounded like Yankee Stadium at times, except the music was better and the announcer frequently thanked the many volunteers. Prince George's Spruce City Stadium was jam packed and the atmosphere was electric as fans were treated to a pair of thrilling games under sunny skies.
First the home town Black Bears defeated Jarvis in an 8-6 slugfest to advance to the final game against defending champs St. Thomas.
That set the stage for what local fans called the most exciting game ever played at Spruce City Stadium featuring a match up between Ontario's Frank Cox and BC's Korey Gareau.
St Thomas opened up a 2-0 lead after 3 innings with rbi's going to Macumber and Mullaley.
The Black Bears battled back in the 4th and tied the score at 2 apeice when Evan Potskin drove home Ghostkeeper and then Potskin scored on Rosychuk's double.
Lessard then gave the Easterner's a 3-2 lead with a blast over the fence, but in the 6th, Ghostkeeper doubled again and Ormsby tripled to send the fans into a frenzy and tie the score once again.
The "international rule" was not in effect and there was no scoring until Levy's heorics in the bottom of the ninth, when he hit the very first pitch deep into the "bear gardens" in left field.
The game was delayed by a classic "rhubarb" in the top of the 9th inning when, with runners on 1st and 2nd, Eddie Dent broke up a potential double play by sliding hard into the 2nd baseman, who dropped the ball.
The protest committee was called onto the field and following much debate, it was ruled that the runner on 3rd was out, leaving the Bears with runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out.
Cox was able to get Randy Potskin and Darryl Sandback out to end the threat and set the stage for Dale Levy's walk off homer.
The unusual high number of home runs hit throughout the tourney was a topic of debate amongst fans and tourney officials.
The 10' high outfield fence was 242' all the way around, which is somewhat shorter than most and the official ball was the Worth K-Master.
TIC would like to know what readers think is the main cause for so many home runs. Please vote in the poll on the right. |
