BC lefty frustrates Ironmen in opener (photos)

A capacity crowd was on hand for the opening ceremonies of the 2015 Senior Men Baseball Championships being held in Miramichi. Teams paraded onto the field and were welcomed by the mayor and MP Tilly O'Neill-Gordon. Players from various minor ball teams on the river were the flag bearers for each team, and 11 year old Braydon King carried the Canadian flag to the pitchers mound to start things off. A tribute was also paid to deceased Ironmen organizer and community champion, Marven McCarthy. Members of Marven's family threw out the first pitch, and his widow was presented with a bouquet of flowers from the team.

The previous night 1600 people attended the home run hitting contest which raised $3150 for minor baseball in Miramichi. At last night's game between the Ironmen and defending national Champions, British Columbia, the 50-50 draw was $2615 which was won by Tom O'Reilly.

Shane Kraemer, left-handed pitcher for the BC team, frustrated the Ironmen for 5 innings only allowing 3 hits, and also picking off three base runners at first. Ironmen outfielder and speedster Orry Cook reached base twice, and was picked off twice, but managed to reach second when the first baseman dropped the ball. Kraemer's move to first kept runners flat-footed and off balance, and for 5 innings only 2 runners made it past 1st base.

The Ironmen began to figure out Kraemer in the 6th inning, but the BC team had already built an 8-0 lead. Robert Gallant and Kris Keating reached for the Ironmen in the 6th against Kraemer, and then Jonathan Saunders hit a double off the wall scoring Gallant. Keating was brought home by an RBI single off the bat of catcher Andrew MacDonald, an import from Charlottetown.

Kraemer was lifted in the 7th for right-hander Shawn Schaeffer, but Schaeffer gave up a single to pinch-hitter Jeff McCarthy and then balked him all the way to third. Schaeffer Balked a third time in the inning, and McCarthy eventually scored, cutting the lead to 8-3. Some spectators also thought Kraemer's move was a balk, but the player of the game had everyone fooled, fans, umpires and base-runners.

Stand-outs for the Ironmen were Kris Keating who was 2 for 3, and would have had a perfect night at the plate if not for a stellar play by BC second baseman Pat Brown. Robert Gallant also had two sharply hit singles, but got picked off once and committed an error at short.

Jamie Walls took the loss for the Ironmen, giving up 6 runs in three innings on 6 hits, including a homer and two walks. Robbie Murphy was cruising in relief, but walked the first batters in the 6th who both eventually scored.

Ironmen play Nova Scotia this morning at 10 am.

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