Announcement
DRY/CANADIANS GAME 3 &4 SET FOR BRILLIANT SUNSHINE AND WARMTH
The torrential rain of the last few days which has made play impossible at the Mainland Common has forced postponement of tonight's Game 2 of the NSSBL final series between the Halifax Pelham Molson Canadians and the Dartmouth Moosehead Dry.
The teams have decided that with uncertainty surrounding field conditions for Fri. as well as the promise of perfect baseball weather with sun and warmth with temperatures in the low 20's for the long weekend, that the next 3 games would go on Sat., Sun., and Mon. Sat.'s game is set for Mainland Common at 1:00 (please note start time), Sun., 2:00, at Beazley Field, and back to Mainland Common on Mon., at 2:00.
Here's brief look at Game 1, won by Halifax 6-4, with a hint of what's to happen in the next three games.
When co-coach and league-leading pitcher, Mark Haverstock, brought his Halifax Pelham Molson Canadians and his right arm to Beazley Field lastFriday, he hoped to wrestle home field advantage from the Dartmouth Moosehead Dry in their best 4 of 7 NSSBL playoff series. And that’s exactly what he and his teammates did.
Haverstock’s rock-solid outing and the key hitting of the team’s RBI leader, Shawn Peverill, were the keys. Haverstock, 9-4 over the regular season, stymied the big bats of the Dry until the 9th when Chris Head clubbed a grand slam home run to cut the margin to 6-4. Big Steve Ivey came in to get the final two outs to preserve the win with the winning run at the plate. Peverill provided the big blow, a 2-run home run in the 3rd off Craig Langille (7-1), runner-up to Haverstock as the league’s top right-hander. Those runs proved to be the winning runs.
Halifax’s top hitters during the season, Adam Lucas, Mark Pelham,and Ryan Veinot helped the cause offensively. The three hit .398, .391, and .368 respectively. Lucas had 2 singles, Pelham and Veinot run scoring base hits. Other performers the Canadians look to help out are C Shawn Walsh, always a top-notch playoff performer, 3B Josh Pelham, and Brandon Devlin who started things off on Fri. with a triple.
The silver lining in the dark clouds that have covered HRM for most of the week is that both teams' pitchers are well-rested and ready to go. It is likely that Haverstock will return to the mound for the second game, Sat., though Steve Ivey is ready as well. If Haverstock starts then Ivey will go Sun. and Barrett Bellefontaine Mon. Bellefontaine, the outstanding lefty, is 2-0, but has been plagued with arm woes all season and hasn’t pitched since a win in Truro on Aug. 30.
The Dry will go with veteran Jason Bailey (5-0) on Sat, hoping the winningest pitcher in Dry history can do what he has done so many times before over a brilliant career. Langille will start on Sun. and junior affiliate, Cameron Marling, will start Game 4 on Mon. Closer Jeff Reeves, who led the league in strikeouts with 64 in 39 innings, while going 4-1, with a league-leading ERA of 1.62 will be counted on in a big way. Of concern in the Dry camp is the status of ex-pro, Steve Nelson. Nelson, 7-2 this season and among the top pitchers every year, is battling rotator cuff problems and may not be able to pitch again this year.
The Dry, with 6 offensive all-stars in their starting line-up, will look to provide more clout overall than they did in Game 1. Head and Matt Thomas had 6 hits in the opening game, but Haverstock and Ivey stymied the big bats of Joel Irvine (.346, 6 HRs, 37 RBIs), Darren Doucette who hit 13 home runs to lead the league, Greg West who finished atop the batting parade at .421, and C Justin Stephens who had 26 RBIs. Colin Johnson also provides great offense, he finished 2nd in home runs (6) and tied for 1st in RBIs with 37, both with Irvine.
The tremendous competitiveness between the two teams is obvious when one looks at the regular season. The Dry won the 8-game series 5-3, outscoring the Canadians by a count of 48-41. The Dry won 2 of the last 3 games by 1 run, the Canadians` victory was by 2 runs. So with Halifax`s 6-4 win in Game 1 of this final series, baseball fans can be assured of some of the best baseball seen in the NSSBL for many years.
