Carillon Sultans rebound from game 1 loss to win finals

GAME ONE

Game one of the Manitoba Junior Baseball League (MJBL) finals set the tone for the series, as two evenly matched teams battled to the final outs of the game.

The Elmwood Giants edged ahead of the Carillon Sultans 6-5 in game one, hosted in Steinbach’s A.D. Penner Park.

The field may have played a role in the outcome. With the top of the order up in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, Carillon batters crushed pitches to the end of the outfield, but all three times Giants’ fielders were able to make the catch. Carillon’s home diamond in Steinbach is a larger field compared to most MJBL diamonds.

Colson Smith nabbed the win for Elmwood, giving up only a single earned run over five and two-thirds innings.

“(We) were a little shaky at the start, but obviously we picked it up, that’s Giants baseball,” the right-hander said after the game.

“We know how to battle back, play hard, that’s been the name of our game all season.”

It was a sloppy game by both teams, as they combined for seven errors. The game twice flipped on bloop singles with two outs, as Carillon took the lead in the bottom of the fourth before a two-out Elmwood bloop single gave the visitors the lead in the top of the sixth. Both times the only reason two runs scored was because there were two outs and runners took advantage to get a jump start on the play.

Smith was clearly frustrated after his team gave up the lead in the fourth, but came out firing to start the fifth, with his best inning of the game. He struck out the side to limit the damage.

“Obviously those innings are going to happen, those little bloop hits happen in baseball, it’s the name of the game,” Smith said, adding he likes to use the frustration from previous innings to fuel himself going forward.

“I get a little fire under my butt. I take that in, it fuels me up.”

GAME TWO

A smart pitching strategy paid off for the Carillon Sultans in game two of the finals July 25 at Koskie Field in Winnipeg. Cedric Lagasse closed out game one for Steinbach, and also got the start in game two, a 11-6 Sultans victory.

The right-hander went five and two-thirds innings, giving up only five hits. Carillon was sloppy behind their pitcher, with four errors, but got more than enough offense to make up for it.

Tyler Plett came on in relief to finish the game, striking out two Elmwood players the finals outs of the game.

The top of Carillon’s order just would not be denied in game two, as Rylan Penner, Joe Plett and Cody Gunderson combined to go 8/9 at the plate. While Plett only managed a single hit, the number two hitter drew three walks on the day to more than make up for it.

Elmwood appeared in control of the game until the sixth inning. After two complete, the score was tied 3-3 until the bottom of the fifth, where the Giants took a one-run lead with some smart base-running and sacrifices to get a runner over to third who could score on a ground-out.

While the top of the order put up outstanding numbers, it was the bottom of the order which kick-started the Sultans rally. Mason Hartung and Ryan Powers, the eighth and ninth hitters both singled to start the inning, and both would come around and score when Brady Papineau singled later in the inning.

It ended up as a five run inning, and Carillon managed to tack on three more for good measure in the top of the seventh to clinch a tied series.

GAME THREE

Sultans manager Rick Penner used the exact same strategy in game three as he did in game two, with the same results, this time a 12-5 win inside A.D. Penner Park.

Penner once again turned the ball over to his closer from the night before, as Tyler Plett threw four and a thrid innings, giving up six hits and five earned runs.

Plett got more than enough support with another great outing from the top of Carillon’s order. The Sultans out-hit the Giants 14-7 on the night, with three Elmwood errors not helping matters either.

The first five batters of Carillon’s order all had multi-hit nights, with designated hitter Luc Lagasse cleaning up strong outings from teammates ahead of him to rack up a game-high three RBIs.

Meech Nadeau made only his second appearance of the year on the mound in relief, and looked comfortable, only giving up a single hit in his two and two-thirds innings.

Tyler Smith got the start for Elmwood, and looked great his first two times through the Carillon order. But in the top of the fourth, as the Sultans saw him for the third time, their bats came alive.

The Sultans plated six runs in the bottom of the fourth, and continued the onslaught when Smith was relieved by Riley Craw, plating four more in the bottom of the fifth.

GAME FOUR

With their backs against the wall, Elmwood turned back to their game one starter, who got the job done in a marathon outing.

Colson Smith allowed five hits over five and one-third innings, throwing well over 100 pitches to set up his team for victory.

Carillon was able to get some hits on Smith, but could never get a key swing to cash runners in, as the Giants generated enough offense for a 4-1 victory to set up a winner-takes-all game five.

Dylan Duguay provided the winning run, not needing any runners in scoring position to pick up an RBI, smashing a ball over the left-field fence in Koskie Field to give the home team a 2-0 lead.

Linden Meilleur pitched a complete game, with six innings, six hits surrendered and six strikeouts.

Game four was the cleanest-played game of the series, with both teams outfielders showing great range to catch some hard-hit balls.

Carillon was lamenting some missed opportunities in game four. The team went 0/5 with runners in scoring position in the first two innings, were caught stealing third to end the fourth inning, and grounded into fielders choices with runners in scoring position in both the fifth and sixth innings.

GAME FIVE

The Carillon Sultans’ bats could not be denied July 29, as the team clinched their first championship since 2012.

The Sultans put up 12 runs in three innings on the Elmwood Giants, en route to a mercy-rule walk-off victory in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The final score read 13-3, with Mason Hartung cashing in a Brady Papineau sacrifice fly to provide the mercy-rule win.

Hartung played a huge role in the victory. Carillon’s number nine hitter in the lineup was 2/3 with a walk, including a monster grand slam to put the game out of reach in the fourth inning.

Two players hit two of the longest home runs ever seen in A.D. Penner history, with Elmwood’s Josh Johnson putting the visitors up 3-0 in the first inning.

It looked like Carillon’s struggles with runners in scoring position would continue from game four, with a first inning double-play ending a Carillon response with runners on the corners, but the team picked up right where they left off, notching two runs on a Ryan Powers double.

Powers and Hartung were the bottom of the order hitters for Carillon, but it didn’t seem like it, going a combined 5/7 with seven RBIs.

Sultans batters feasted on a tired Elmwood pitching staff. Riley Craw needed to come on in relief in game four to secure a tight win, and couldn’t pull out a strong performance the next day, giving up 11 hits over three and one-third innings. Elmwood’s relief pitchers couldn’t stop the bleeding, as Carillon, which boasted one of the best offenses in the league this season, took care of business.

The Sultans and Giants will play at least one more time this season, as both teams are playing at the Western Canadian Championships, hosted at Koskie Field Aug. 9-11.