Rainy’s playoff run ends

By Justin Holmes
Staff writer

The Sight & Sound Wolves are heading for the RRDFL semi-finals after beating back the Rainy River Royals 10-9 Tuesday at VanJura field in Fort Frances.
The Royals suffered a first round upset in the playoffs but proved why they were the third best team in the regular season, giving pitcher Bob Andy one of his toughest nights of the year.
Sight & Sound’s ace, who held the best season record in the RRDFL, was roughed up in the third inning by the Royals with an RBI single followed by a grand slam by Marty Armstrong, going into the frame tied 1-1 but exiting down 6-1.
The Wolves posted unanswered runs until they held a 10-6 lead after the sixth. Rainy River got to work again, whittling it down to 10-9 in the seventh before running out of outs.
“It was a good comeback for us. I kind of wanted to take myself out of the game there when they took a good lead,” Andy laughed.
He said that shortstop Marcell Pagee talked to him between innings, which helped him focus on the game. “I was glad he did (talk to me) anyway,” Andy said.
Pagee said it was the only time Andy needed that kind of a pep talk all year. “To be honest, he looked a little defeated,” he said. “I just said to him, ‘wrap your head around this, we need you.’ ...I told him to do what he does, do what he does best, because he’s the best pitcher in this league by far. He’s a gem.”
Rainy River started the first with a 1-0 lead manufactured by a single and baserunning on a handful of errant throws. Andy took matters into his own hands in the bottom of the frame, smacking a solo shot to center field to knot the game at 1-1.
The change came in the third, when Justin Wagner, on second after a Cole Kaemingh error and stolen base, was driven in by pitcher Murray Armstrong with a single to left field with two out. Two singles followed to load the bases and outfielder Marty Armstrong - Murray’s older brother - hit his first homer of the year, hammering out a 6-1 lead.
“I just wanted to make contact,” Marty said, “and he got two strikes on me. I was expecting something in the dirt or up high, but it ws right down the pipe. Swung as hard as I could.”
In the bottom of the third, Cole Kaemingh reached on a fumbled strikeout, Pagee hit a single to the wall, and Bob Andy hit a first pitch RBI double, Paul Visser drove in two with another double and Derek McKinnon singled to strike back against the Royals and end the frame down by an easier to stomach 6-5 score.
In the bottom of the fourth, John Desaulniers reacted to a pitch high and inside by hitting the second one clear of the trees behind the left field fence to tie the game 6-6. In the fifth, Andy led off with a double, Paul Visser brought him in with a single and was brought in by a double by catcher Beef Windego to take Sight & Sound’s first lead of the game, ending the frame 8-6.
A smattering of singles came in the following inning to leave the Wolves up 10-6, who countered with a single, a base on a strikeout by Murray Armstrong and a double to keep it tense and end the meeting 10-9 after Andy drew one last strikeout.
“That’s kind of the game we figured,” McKinnon, the Sight & Sound manager, said after the game. “They showed up with the best guys they got and they put up a pretty good game... you can’t take ’em lightly.”
Said his counterpart, Wes Blight of the Royals: “These guys are good hitters. You need about ten runs to get up on them... It was a close game, that’s all I can say. I’m a man of few words,” he laughed.