Rivers Comets bring home a championship
- Details
- Published on Friday, August 25, 2017
By Justin Froese
Rivers Banner
What a weekend it was! Rivers Comets, hosting the inaugural provincial Senior A championships, bested the field and ended 2017 on a high note. Facing off in a five-team double elimination tournament, Comets took the high road to Sunday’s final by winning games on Friday and Saturday night before completing a 3-0 weekend with their second victory in under 24 hours over Cartwright Twins on Sunday. Outscoring opponents 11-3 in their three games, Comets rode some masterful pitching performances by Ryan Shaw, shrewd defense and clutch hits in crucial moments.
In Friday’s opener the boy’s got a stud, complete game shutout from Shaw in a 3-0 win over Austin A's. Shaw allowed seven hits and struck out 12 while outduelling Austin counterpart Zac Yandeau. At the plate Mike McFadden hit a two-run inside the park home run to lead the offence, while Shaw was once again active with two hits. For Austin, Yandeau took the loss, pitching six innings, striking out four and allowing two earned runs. At the plate Daylan Lamaree, Rod McLeod and Carter Schettler each had two hits. The win got Rivers out of a 9 a.m. matchup against Clearwater Blues, who defeated and eliminated Austin with a win early Saturday.
To set the table for a 6 p.m. matchup with Rivers, with a berth in Sunday’s final up for grabs, Cartwright recorded a 17-4 victory over Reston Rockets in Saturday’s 12 p.m. game. Trailing 3-2 in their last at-bat, Comets rode an intense seventh inning rally which featured four runs and three ejections between the teams to come back and beat Twins 6-3. McFadden was resilient on the hill, pitching five innings before giving way to Dana McNish, who earned the win in relief. Dustin Asham went 2-4 at the plate with a run and two RBIs for Rivers. Cartwright countered with Ty Enns who pitched 6.3 innings of three-run ball before Taylor Bramwell stepped in on relief and took the loss. Jory Mullin went 3-3 at the plate for Cartwright.
With Rivers in the driver’s seat heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. final, Clearwater and Cartwright played off at 10 a.m. Facing little animosity, Cartwright prevailed with a 9-2 win over Clearwater and set up a rematch with Comets. Although suspenseful at times during the fast-paced 70-minute contest, Shaw threw his second complete game shutout of the weekend in a 2-0 triumph over Cartwright Twins. His stellar effort, plus that of other teammates, paved the way for the Comets win in the inaugural provincial A championship. Brad Roth doubled and singled while Shaw also added an RBI single for insurance for Rivers. Cartwright countered with Bramwell on the mound, who tossed a complete game in the loss.
To top off Shaw’s weekend of 14 innings pitched with zero runs allowed and 19 strikeouts, he became the first player in senior baseball to win a AAA (picked up by Oak River Dodgers), AA (picked up by Boissevain Centennials) and A (Rivers Comets) provincial titles in the same season. Congratulations are in order to him on the elusive accomplishment!
With the 2017 season and our time as provincial hosts now complete, we would like to give thanks to all volunteers, parents, spouses, relatives, sponsors, town of Rivers and our fans for making this weekend the success it was. We wouldn't be hosting an event of this magnitude or have a team if it weren't for the backbone of those who put in the effort to help out and support us. You guys are the MVPs of this weekend and this year. We will see you all in the spring!
