Aces beat deuces in district all star game

Ken Johnston

A hole was dug in the first inning by the Aces and there was no climbing out of it for the Deuces in the annual Rainy River District Fastball League’s All Star game; held in Rainy River Tuesday.
The Deuces faced the pitching of Sight and Sound’s (Fort Frances) Bob Andy and he was tough. The Aces’ Travis Derkson (Barwick), Jessie Tom (Big Island) and Murray Armstrong (Rainy River) all failed to make it on base. Bill Copenace (Big Grassy) was stranded there.
In the bottom of the inning it was the exact opposite for the Aces. Just about every player made it on base after the first batter, Will Handorgan (Big Island) struck out. Vaughn Wilson (Bar) started things off with a single. Kevin Gemmell (Bar) did the same advancing Wilson. Bob Andy did not want to be left out and hit a single as well to load the bases for Beef Windego (S&S). Windego cranked a double scoring two runs. Paul Visser then struck out but that was not the end for the Aces. Charlie Kelly (BI) earned two RBIs with a double. Another double followed when Chris Jack (BG) earned an RBI. Marcel Pagee (S&S) hit a single and to cap things off back at the top of the order, Will Handorgan hit a homerun to score three more runs. Vaughn Wilson then struck out to end the inning with Aces high 8-0 over the Deuces.
Andy continued to be strong in the second inning putting the Deuces out three in a row.
Deuces pitcher Murray Armstrong settled down a bit in the bottom of two allowing only one runner to reach base and left him stranded at second.
In the top of the third the Deuces finally cracked Andy’s foundation when Dailen Tuesday (BI) hit a single and then stole second. Jessie Tom hit a double to score Tuesday and put them on the board. Bill Copenace then hit a single to bring Tom in. However, he was followed up by Don Gall (RR) flying out to end their bats down 8-2.
The Aces would not let the Deuces hold the ground they had gained for long with both Charlie Kelly and Marcel Pagee scoring. Wilson and Gemmell each earned RBIs with a single and double respectively. After three it was 10-2.
With a good crowd on hand, and all the Rainy players on the Deuces, they were determined to get back in the game. In the top of the fourth Don Gall started things off with a double. Duane Carlson (Int’l Falls) then hit a single to score Gall. He then stole second. Jim Chorney (RR) walked to first and was followed by Dailen Tuesday hitting a single and then stealing second. Travis Derkson hit a single in the gap and scored both Chorney and Tuesday to end up down 10-5.
In the bottom of the inning the Deuces allowed only one runner on base before shutting the Aces down and holding them at 10-5.
In the top of the fifth Murray Armstrong cranked an empty bases homer. Two batters later, with two out, Derek McKinnon hit a single to be followed up by a home run by Duane Carlson. It looked good for the Deuces down by only two (10-8) at the middle of the fifth.
But the Aces were determined to win. Marcel Pagee kicked things off with a single, followed by a homer by Vaughn Wilson. Then Kevin Gemmell hit a double and was brought in by Bob Andy’s single next. The Aces were up by five again after five (13-8).
The Deuces tried to close the gap again in the sixth but only Dailen Tuesday scored. Both Derkson and Tom were stranded.
Adding salt to the wound, in the bottom of the sixth Marcel Pagee hit a home run to left field scoring Chris Jack and cementing the lead 15-9.
The Deuces could only come up with a pair of runs, in the seventh, by McKinnon and Carlson and ended up losing 15-11.
In the end it was four Aces’ runs that beat out the Deuces, but the battle was entertaining and left fans feeling good about the game.
Regular league play resumes Tuesday with Barwick at I. Falls, S&S at Sabaskong, Big Grassy at RR and Big Island at Stratton.