Ken Alexander
Free Press
Game 3 of the 100 Mile Men’s Fastball League’s best-of-three playoff championship attracted a huge crowd at Lumberman’s Park on July 10 and it was a barnburner.
The Red Rock Avengers and the Shuswap Defenders had battled hard in the first two games of the playoffs, with the Avengers winning 6-4 in game 1 and the Defenders running away with a 15-7 victory in game 2.
You could feel electricity in the air as both sides had a large fan base and people cheered throughout the rubber match, as they urged their teams on from the first pitch to the last out of the game.
Red Rock jumped out to an early lead, scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning when lead-off hitter Brad Mills crossed the plate.
Shuswap shortstop Neal Christopher tied the game with a solo home run in the top of the second.
However, the Avengers answered with four runs in the bottom of the second to go up 5-1 after two innings.
The Defenders got back into the game in the top of the third when Mark Boyce hit a monster three-run homer to close the gap to 5-4.
The Red Rock bats were hot all night, and they scored another run in their half of the third, and then added one more in the fourth on a solo blast from Brody Borg.
Leading 7-4, the Avengers blew the game open when Ryan Odette stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded in the fifth and ripped a double down the first base line to clear the bases. Shuswap managed to score one more run, but Red Rock took the championship game 12-5.
Red Rock chucker Pat Findlay struck out four batters during the game, while Shuswap pitcher Antoine Sargeant sat down six Red Rock batters.
