Fresh from their dramatic come-from-behind championship win in the Miramichi tournament, the Sackville Mosquito ‘A’ Hurricanes swept through the zone playoffs over the weekend before last in Quispamsis, going 5-0 to earn the right to represent Zone 3 in the provincial tournament on the Labour Day weekend in Taymouth.
The Hurricanes began the weekend in familiar fashion on Friday afternoon, finding themselves down 5-3 to St. Stephen heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
With one out, the boys staged yet another late-inning comeback. RBI singles by Tyler Long, Aaron Rose, Keegan Higham and Tomas Campbell tied the score, setting the stage for Sam Tower’s two-out, two-run double for a 7-5 lead.
Rose retired the last nine St. Stephen batters, striking out two in the top of the sixth to seal the victory
Not content with just one nerve-racking comeback, the Hurricanes found themselves once again down 11-9 coming to bat in the top of the fifth against a strong Kennebecasis Valley team.
Justin Vogels, Sam Tower and Sam Alward led off the inning with consecutive singles but Ryan Brown, who started the game crushing a home run to deep right centre, struck out and Harry Griffiths had an RBI ground out. Long then slammed a two-out, two-run triple to left centre and Rose added an RBI single to give the Hurricanes a 13-11 lead. Tomas Campbell shut the door on KV, setting down the last six batters to secure the win.
The Hurricanes then had two easy games, defeating Riverview 20-2 Saturday night and New Maryland 17-2 on Sunday morning.
Rose led the way against Riverview with four RBIs. Tower added three more and Griffiths, Long, Higham and Campbell had two apiece.
The New Maryland drubbing was another team effort, led by Tower’s four RBIs and Vogels’ complete game four-hitter.
Having swept the round-robin portion, the Hurricanes then faced 3-1 Kennebecasis Valley for a second time in a possible double-header. Tournament rules dictated that a KV victory in the first playoff game would result in a second game to determine the eventual zone winner.
Under a blazing sun with no shade in sight, the boys definitely wanted to avoid a sixth game. The contest was tight from the outset, tied 1-1 after one and 3-3 going into the fifth. KV scored two runs in the top of the fifth to go up 5-3. That’s how the score stood as the Hurricane came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.
Refusing to wilt under the pressure or the heat, the boys clawed their way back. Rose led off with a shot to centre but a great play by the centre fielder held him to a single. He was forced at second on Higham’s ground out but Jérèmie Leblanc closed the gap to 5-4 with an RBI single of his own. Campbell then struck out but Vogels stroked a single to left, bringing up Sam Tower.
With two out and down two strikes in the count, Tower laced a double down the third base line, scoring Leblanc and Vogels with the tying and winning runs.
Pandemonium ensued, followed by much celebration and the now-ritual game of vampire monkey tag. Up next for the cardiac kids: the provincials.
