Gordon Head Thunders to 2014 Mosquito Title

Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart (ISN) – Kyle DeVooght's RBI in the top of the 5th inning turned out to be the winning margin, as the Gordon Head Thunder overcame a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Carnarvon Red Devils 5-4 in the Greater Victoria Baseball Association (GVBA) Mosquito Championship game played Wednesday night at Allenby Park in Victoria.

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Carnarvon Red Devil shortstop Tyler Finlay awaits the throw as Gordon Head's Ian McCardle slides safely into second during Wednesday's Mosquito championship game (Photo: Christian J. Stewart / ISN)

The game was an exciting and well-played affair and was tight all the way through. Both teams failed to score in the first, as Carnarvon starting pitcher Dominic Biello (11) and Gordon Head starting pitcher Ryan Whelan (2) both emerged unscathed, with Whelan getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the inning.

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Carnarvon starting pitcher Dominic Biello (top) and Gordon Head starter Ryan Whelan (bottom) kept things tight, allowing just a run each over the first two innings of the game (Photo: Christian J. Stewart / ISN)

Both teams would hit the board in the second inning, the Thunder striking first when Ty Jacoby (4) would single, steal his way to third and then come home on a wild pitch. The Red Devils would answer in a similar fashion, as Joel LeVecque (5) would single and also eventually score on a wild pitch.

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Carnarvon's Joel LeVecque would slide home with the Red Devils first run of the game on a wild pitch, tying the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning (Photo: Christian J. Stewart / ISN)

In the top of the third inning, the Thunder would have a chance to break the game open, loading the bases, thanks in part to a hit from Silas Jackson (8), but end up with nothing, leaving all three runners stranded.

The Red Devils would take advantage of that in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases after consecutive hits from Liam Erlic (3), Cade Buckingham (7) and Owen Luchies (9), with Erlic scoring on a wild pitch and Buckingham coming home on an RBI single from Tyler Finlay (2), putting the Red Devils up 3-1.

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Carnarvon's Tyler Finlay would stroke this RBI single in the top of the 3rd inning to give the Red Devils a 3-1 lead (Photo: Christian J. Stewart / ISN)

Gordon Head would fight right back however and in the top of the fourth, leadoff walks to Tyler Bains (14) and Jacoby would prove costly for the Red Devils, as both would come home to score to tie the game on a base hit by Ian McCardle (1). On the play, a Red Devils error allowed McCardle to scamper all the way to third. He would then come in to score on an RBI ground out by Aden deBoer (9) and the Thunder had jumped into a 4-3 lead.

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Gordon Head's Ian McCardle starts on his way to first after stroking a base-hit to score the tying runs in the fourth inning McCardle would eventually then score the 4-3 go ahead run for the Thunder (Photo: Christian J. Stewart / ISN)

After the Red Devils threatened to score again in the top of the fifth, but came up empty, the Thunder would manufacture their ultimate winning run in the bottom of the inning when Whelan would reach on a hit, be moved around on a walk to Cormick Brown (11) and then score on De Vooght's ground out. They had another chance to score when Brown tried to take home on a wild pitch, but he was cut down for the third out of the inning on a nice cover of home by Carnarvon pitcher Oliver Maybee (10) who had earlier come in to relieve.

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The Thunder were prevented from scoring a 6th run in the game, when baserunner Cormick Brown was tagged out at the plate on this nice cover by Carnarvon pitcher Oliver Maybee (Photo: Christian J. Stewart / ISN)

In the bottom of the fifth, Gordon Head closer deVooght got some defensive help on a nice catch in centre field from Whelan to keep the Red Devils off the board, and after Maybee shut down the Thunder in the top of the sixth, de Vooght would head into the final half-inning of the game with his team ahead 5-3.

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Gordon Head's Kyle DeVooght would be on the mound to close out the win for the Thunder, getting two big fly ball outs in the bottom of the 6th to clinch the exciting 5-4 victory (Photo: Christian J. Stewart / ISN)

The home Red Devils would not go quietly and after a fly out to centre, Maybe would single off deVooght to make it interesting. After stealing his way to third, Maybee would score on an RBI ground out by Tion McLeish to pull the Red Devils to within one. The excitement was short-lived however as the next batter, Connor Delaney, flew out to centre to end the game and give the Thunder the 5-4 win.

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The 2014 GVBA Mosquito Champion Gordon Head Thunder (Photo: Christian J. Stewart / ISN)

Additional photos from this game will be available at http://christianjstewart.zenfolio.com/baseball

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