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Host Prince George Axemen Win Canadian Championships
The hometown boy powered a grand slam off Windsor Stars pitcher Steven Carter in the bottom of the fourth inning, breaking open a tight final in the 2012 RE/MAX Baseball Canada Senior championship to give the Axemen a 9-3 advantage on their way to a 9-5 win.
"That was mind-blowing," said Hunter. "It's just amazing. It's just a great feeling."
The 28 year old was the star of the weekend tournament held at Citizen Field where the 1,013 fans cheered in appreciation when he sent the ball flying over the fence in the final.
"We have a lot of great hitters and I just wanted to get on base and give them a chance to drive me in and it worked out to my advantage where I drove in a lot of runs myself," said Hunter. "Hopefully, there's a lot of little kids out there and they see this and P.G. will be back on the map for baseball."
Hunter went 3-for-3, two runs and five RBIs for the Axemen in the final after his two-run homer in the morning semifinal tied the game against the Fort Saskatchewan Athletics of Alberta.
With a batting average around .600 over five games Hunter was named the tournament's top hitter, going 10-for-15, scoring seven runs with 10 RBIs, a double and two homers.
Axemen manager Jim Swanson said the former Western Major Baseball League player with the Okotoks Dawgs more than earned his keep.
"Brandon Hunter was just everything for us," said Swanson. "He came up with clutch hits at the right times - you have to do that to win a short tournament like this. There's nobody hotter in Prince George right now then Brandon Hunter."
Prince George scattered nine hits over six innings while the Stars were only able to muster four hits off the Axemen pitching crew.
The Starts took a 1-0 lead on a Kevin Mailloux two-out homer in the first inning but the Axemen responded with four runs of their own chasing Starts southpaw Dane Little after only one-third of an inning after allowing three hits.
Sean Hotzak and Scott Webster scored for the Axemen before Bob Foerster hit a two-run single to drive in Hunter and Jeremy Kral.
Little was replaced by Steven Carter - who suffered the 2-0 loss when the teams met on opening night - who struck out Brad Ferraro before Jesse Peters flew out to deep centre to end the inning.
After two scoreless innings, the Stars pulled within a run at 4-3 in the fourth inning when Mailloux scored on a wild pitch by Axemen starter Ryan Eiswerth.
Thomas Grubb scored from second on an Axemen error on the same play.
There lead cut down to one run the Axemen didn't panic Peters pounded a leadoff homer over the left-field wall for the Axemen in the bottom of the inning before Hunter smashed home his grand slam to expand the lead to 9-3.
Keenan Takatch replaced Eiswerth on the Axemen's mound in the top of the fifth inning after the starter loaded the bases with no outs. The Stars were able to score two runs to reduce their deficit to 9-5 but Takatch ended the threat with a strikeout.
Dillion Reynolds took over on the Axemen mound in the top of the seventh, closing out the win with two strikeouts and a flyout.
-courtesy of the Prince George Citizen
The Halifax Pelham Canadians were eliminated from the Senior Championships. The lost 10-0 to the host Prince George Axemen. Their former teammate Brandon Hunter was 4 for 4 with 3 RBI for the Axemen. Craig Field started for Halifax and was tagged with the loss.
Pelham Canadians Lose Heartbreaker
The Halifax Pelham Canadians lost their second game at the Canadian Championships 2-1 to Ontario. The Canadians were leading 1-0 going to the bottom of the seventh and gave up two runs. Jeff Reeves pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up 5 hits but did walk 6. Brandon McKinnon relived Reeves in the 7th and was tagged with the loss. John Picco went the distance for Ontario holding the Canadians to 4 hits while striking out 6. Halifax finishes pool play tomorrow against Prince George.
Halifax Falls to Alberta in Game 1
The Halifax Pelham Canadians lost 10-3 to Alberta in their first game at the Canadian Championship. Cory Christie ddrove in two in the first inning with a triple and later added a single. The game was tied after 3, but Alberta erupted for 5 in the 4th and aadded two more runs in the 5th. Mark Haverstock was the losing pitcher.
| Pitching Leaders | |||||
| Name | Team | W | L | Pct. | ERA |
| Kevin Nichols | K | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.15 |
| Jeff Reeves | D | 5 | 1 | .833 | 1.71 |
| Shain Boudreau | D | 5 | 1 | .833 | 2.33 |
| Shayne Conrad | K | 5 | 1 | .833 | 2.57 |
| Craig Field | H | 5 | 3 | .625 | 4.80 |
| Mark Haverstock | H | 6 | 4 | .600 | 3.06 |
| Min.5 decisions | |||||
Wins: Haverstock 6, Nichols 5, Reeves 5, Boudreau 5 and Field 5 .
Ks: Reeves 66, Field 53, Boudreau 47, Justin Davies (D) 44, Haverstock 39 and Paul Doucette (S) 37.
ERA: (based on min. of 27 innings pitched) Nichols 1.15, Reeves 1.71, Davies 2.14, Boudreau 2.33, Cameron Marling (D) 2.48, Conrad 2.57 and Anthony Ianetti (S) 2.93.
Innings pitched: Haverstock 82, Josh Fushtey (T) 76, Field 70, Boudreau 69.2,Brandon Malally (T) 55.2, Justin Brewer 49 and Doucette48.
Saves: Shrider 3, Mark Baigent (H) 2 and Reeves 2.
