Skip to content

An Oil Slick - July 17, 2015

You can have the best pitching in the world but if your bats fall silent and you can't score any runs, it's pretty tough to win a baseball game, let alone a series.

You can have the best pitching in the world but if your bats fall silent and you can't score any runs, it's pretty tough to win a baseball game, let alone a series. Unfortunately that's exactly what happened to the Virden Oilers in their playoff series with the Hamiota Red Sox in the SWBL. Not scoring a run, losing 5-0 and 2-0, ends the Oilers' first season, but not before they provided the many local fans that came out with some exciting ball action. Four of the boys; Brady Potter, Des Koop, Jeff Peel and Zane Sawyer, will now compete in Provincials in Brandon this weekend as members of the SWBL all stars.

In other SWBL action, the pennantwinning Boissevain Centennials easily took out the Souris Cardinals and, in an upset, the seventh ranked Deloraine Royals got by the second place Hartney Hoppers in two very close games. In the last series, the Wawanesa Brewers are a game up on the Elkhorn Expos, not looking good.

For the first time in their 15-year history, the Oak River Dodgers (12-7) have won the MSBL pennant with a win in their last game of the regular schedule. Three of the four teams had a chance to capture top spot on the last day but the Dodgers offensive explosion netted them the crown. They will now take on the Brandon Cloverleafs in the first round of the playoffs while the Brandon Marlins will meet the Neepawa Farmers in the other series. The first round of playoffs will likely start Monday. The game last Saturday between the MSBL all stars and the WSBL (Winnipeg Senior Baseball League) all stars was cancelled by the WSBL on short notice (four hours before game time) due to the fact that only six of their players showed up for the bus trip to the Wheat City. This is not only pathetic and inexcusable, it also hurts the image and integrity of a game that has suffered due to lack of participation recently. A hefty fine should be assessed against the WSBL in order to prevent this situation from occurring again.

It will be a busy summer of volleyball for Virden's Carmen Ross as she not only was chosen to play in the NTCC (National Teen Challenge Cup) in Richmond, BC this past week, but she also made Manitoba's U-18 team that will compete in the Western Canada Summer Games being held in Wood Buffalo, AB in early August. Thank God she has her mother's genes. Allie Cantelo will also be competing at the NTCC.

The Pan Am games are in full swing in the Big Smoke with over 7,000 athletes participating in 39 events in what many are saying is a pre-test to Toronto's possible bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games (Let's hope not). Canadian athletes literally came flying out the blocks and we are currently in first place in not only gold medals, but in total medals, which bodes well for our 700-plus strong team.

The 86th MLB All Star game from Cincinnati was a fairly boring affair and with the main highlight of the night being Mike Trout's lead off HR. The only other thing that was spellbounding was the Reds relief pitcher Arondis Chapman throwing heat at 104 mph. The AL has now won 10 of the last 13 games.

Blue Jay shortstop Jose Reyes is taking a lot of heat lately because of his poor performance on the field, especially on defence, where his many errors are hurting the team's chances to win close games. It wouldn't be so bad but when he is scheduled to make $44m over the next two years, he has to pick it up.

The 144th Open is underway and Jordan Spieth will not win his third straight major.

Until next time…

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks