BASEBALL. The Brock and the Cactus have a good chance of facing each other in the first round of the Quebec Major League Baseball playoffs. The two rivals from Centre-du-Québec fought a tough battle in chilly temperatures on Tuesday evening at the Jacques-Desautels stadium.
After a spectacular comeback, Drummondville snatched an 11-8 victory over Victoriaville in overtime. American Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli settled the dispute with a resounding three-run home run to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning. Before this dramatic outcome, the Brock had never taken the lead in this game.
“It shows the team spirit that reigns in this club, launched the player-coach of the Brock, Mathieu Audet. Tonight, our great players got up. Michael Zgorzelski propelled us with his homer, then Tyler came out of his torpor of the last games. His circuit was beyond doubt! It’s always magical to end a baseball game this way.”
Trailing 7-3 in the sixth, then 8-6 in the seventh, the Brock never gave up. After two outs at the end of the seventh inning, a lucky single by Alexandre Morinville allowed the Drummondville residents to score two runs to tie the game at 8-8.
“It was a match in two stages, underlined Mathieu Audet. We played really badly in the first two sets. We can’t afford to repeat that against such a good team as Victoriaville. We managed to come back from behind today, but we will have to play better defensively against them if we face them in the playoffs. We can’t afford to open the door because the core of their roster is very dangerous.”
At the end of the eighth inning, Xavier Bégin drew a base on walks before seeing Samuel Nadeau hit a single. After one out, Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli ended the suspense with a rocket shot over the left field fence.
Adam and Revels join forces
Still unbeaten in three decisions this season, Mathieu Adam bowed out to the applause of the crowd after four and two-thirds sets of work. The seasoned coach allowed five earned runs on six hits and one walk.
“Mathieu Adam is a great veteran. He is new to this league, but we can see his maturity. He reminds me of Denis Lamontagne. Every time we faced him, we never managed to hit him. Like Denis, Mathieu varies the speed of his throws a lot and he throws catches. His ball moves a lot, which makes it more difficult to hit,” said Mathieu Audet, who crossed home plate twice.
The win went to Justin Revels (3-5), who has been enjoying success lately. In three and a third innings, the American allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk.
Thanks to this precious gain, the Brock (9-16) edged out the Cactus (9-17) for fourth place in the B45 division. With five games to play between now and the end of the regular season, Drummondville will have to maintain this position to ensure the advantage of the field in the two-of-three duel which could oppose the two clubs when the playoffs are triggered. .
After visiting the Shawinigan Cascades (16-9) on Friday night, the Brock will play a doubleheader at home on Sunday. The Canadian Baseball Academy under-18 team (3-6) and the Montreal Jets (17-10) will be at the Jacques-Desautels stadium starting at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively. Mathieu Gagnon, Martin Labrecque and Carl Coutu are the three starting pitchers scheduled for these games.
Notepad…
Both teams finished the night with 13 hits… In the win, Alexandre Morinville drove in three runs while Marc Antoine Lefebvre (employed as a catcher) pushed two teammates to the plate… For his part, Samuel Nadeau had three hits… In the bottom of the sixth inning, Michael Zgorzelski hit a solo homer that cut the lead to 7-4… In the Cactus court, Donnie Gardiner drove in three runs on three hits. Etienne Blanchette hit the ball to safety four times… The starting pitcher of the Cactus, Vincent Ruelallowed five runs, two of which were earned, on nine hits and two walks in five innings of work… In two and a third innings in relief, Donnie Gardiner (1-2) was the victim of six earned runs on four hits and three walks…
