Orioles, Giants facing elimination
Sports
Posted 1 month ago
By Donald McLeod
For The Times
First round playoff byes appeared to be no advantage for the top two regular season teams in the Manitoba Junior Baseball League.
Both the first place Elmwood Giants and second place Pembina Valley Orioles were facing elimination heading into the third games of their semi-finals tonight.
The Orioles started very slow in the opening game of their series with the St. Boniface Legionaires.
They were down 5-1 by the third inning, staged a bit of a rally then lost 11-6. And they were then edged 3-2 in the second game Monday.
Meanwhile, the Altona Bisons scored a run in the 10th inning with a Colin Waldner single bringing Brendan Wiebe home to edge the Giants 2-1 in their opening game.
Mac Batchelor started on the mound for the Bisons and allowed nine hits and struck out eight in nine innings. Waldner pitched the 10th inning and got the win.
In the second game, the Bisons scored six runs in the fourth inning to win 8-5 to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Unearned runs early in the first game were costly to the Orioles.
The Legionaires got one run in the first when the ball got past Chris Menzies in centre field, and Brendan Shearer turned what would have been a single into a run.
The Orioles got a run in the bottom of the first with Jeff Burke's solid double driving in a run. The Legionaires scored again in the second inning with a hit to the outfield by Patrick Marion again getting past the outfield.
The Orioles seemed to be somewhat off balance throughout the game.
In their second game win in Altona, the Bisons got two hits each from Angus Klassen and Brett Klassen. Brett had two RBIs while Angus, who also got the pitching win, had one. Waldner had the save as the Bisons overcame a 3-1 Giants lead after the first inning.
The MJBL finals are scheduled to begin Sunday, August 1 with the highest placed semi-final winner gaining home field advantage for the series.
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