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“We never stopped believing in it,” assured player-manager Johan Ochoa around 10:30 p.m.
“We had a meeting after our third defeat, but I felt no panic in the team. We knew what we had to do to come back. Despite the urgency of the situation, we still had to find a way to have fun.”
Starting pitchers Marcos Encarnacion, for Acton Vale, and René-Dave Pelchat, in the visiting camp, left only crumbs at the start of the game. However, things got complicated for Pelchat at the end of the third round.
Gabriel Thibodeau hit a single to the infield, before narrowly escaping a double play. Several Cactus players expressed their disagreement, as if they sensed misfortune coming. Right fielder Étienne Blanchette actually misjudged an unreachable arrow hit by Leonardo Ochoa, which allowed the speedy Thibodeau to score from the first base.
The Castors then doubled their lead in the fifth. Jean-François Delisle then found himself at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs on the clock. And also after walks intentionally awarded to two of his teammates. The veteran responded by taking an extremely important fourth ball of his own.
“I didn’t have the best final, but I really had to find a way to get that point,” commented Delisle, rather hard on himself considering that he had also generated the winning point in the 6th match Monday.
“Even though the big hit is always flashier, sometimes the walk is just as good. René-Dave was very solid all season and he had the advantage in a left-handed duel, but as a hitter, you live for challenges like these.
Saad stops the bleeding
Victoriaville finally got on the scoreboard at the end of the sixth, taking advantage of an error by Gabriel Chiasson in the left and two poorly controlled shots by receiver Samuel Roussy, who had just jumped into the fray with pitcher Philippe Saad. The latter, however, saved the furniture by passing Étienne Blanchette in the mitt and taking a ball against David Cyr.
“Honestly, I just had a blast! It reminded me why I love baseball so much since I was a kid,” said the exuberant right-hander.
Saad was rewarded when Thibodeau scored his team’s third run, on a blunder by shortstop Rylan Sandoval. The Valois conquest then materialized when the ball ended up in the glove of Dave Gauthier in center field.
The formal ceremony had not yet ended when the beer and champagne were already flowing freely.
Obviously, the atmosphere was very different around the visitors’ dugout. Player-manager, Sandoval nevertheless showed class by accepting an interview.
“It hurts to lose like that, we really left everything on the pitch. René-Dave kept us in the game, we just weren’t able to produce the necessary points,” he summarized.
“Our core will come back strong, but for now, we have to take a step back to swallow this disappointment.”
Apparently, this final meeting attracted some 600 spectators. And to think that some members of the Valois organization were fearful with a temperature below 10°C and the Canadian starting his season at the same time…
“We already knew it, but the best fans in the league are in Acton. We are really happy to give them a reason to celebrate tonight,” recalled Johan Ochoa.
“This championship was even more difficult to win than that of 2017, but we did it!”
2023-10-12 02:42:10
#Beavers #champions #incredible #comeback
