The Kindersley Raiders celebrate with a team photo after winning a second consecutive Fertile Valley Baseball League championship on Aug. 2. The Raiders defeated the Kindersley Stallions to win the best-of-three final series. (Back row from l-r) Tait Schommer, Brady Newmeyer, John Dahl, Patrick Omness, Matt Dunn, Brady Bitz, Tyler McKee, Robert Andreas and Jeff Kosolofski. (Front row from l-r) Ben Ortman (bat boy), Clayton Artymovich, Joel Miller, Kyle Adamson, Travis Longmire, Shayne Hannon and Byron Ismond.
Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The Kindersley Raiders are Fertile Valley Baseball League champions for a second year in a row after defeating the Kindersley Stallions in a three-game series.
Three of the largest crowds at Berard Field since the Baseball Canada Cup in 2010 enjoyed the thrilling best-of-three series played over three consecutive days from June 30 to Aug. 2. The Stallions won Game 1 before the more experienced Raiders battled back to win the series.
Chad Miller, the president of Kindersley Minor Ball, presents the Fertile Valley Baseball League championship trophy to Byron Ismond of the Kindersley Raiders after a win on Aug. 2 at Berard Field.
In Game 1, the Stallions edged the Raiders by a score of 2-1. Starting pitchers Corson Harris of the Stallions and Byron Ismond of the Raiders both pitched all seven innings. A couple errors early in Game 1 put the Raiders down early, and neither team could manage to score runs in the game’s late innings.
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The Raiders bats came alive early in the second and third games. A sacrifice bunt and an RBI single allowed the Raiders to score a run in the first inning, and a solo home run by Matt Dunn in the second inning added to the lead.
After each team added two runs in the middle innings to make the score 4-2 for the Raiders, the Raiders added two more runs in the sixth inning. The Stallions clawed back in the final inning to make the score 6-5 with runners on second and third base with two outs, but Raiders pitcher Tyler McKee got a strike out to end the threat.
The starting pitchers for Game 3 were Ismond for the Raiders and Kyle Donaldson for the Stallions. The third game took on a similar feel to Game 2 with the Raiders getting up early in the contest. The Raiders scored a single run in the bottom of the first inning when Clayton Artymovich hit an RBI single to score Kosolofski after Kosolofski had stolen second base to get into scoring position.
The big damage was done later in the game when Kosolofski came up with the bases loaded and he cleared the bases with a double. The three runs were part of a four-run inning and after the Stallions clawed back with a couple of runs, the score was 7-2 when the Stallions came up in the final inning.
A resilient Stallions team fought back in the top of the seventh. The score was 7-4 and the bases were loaded, so the tying run was on first base. A walk with two outs scored the fifth run for the Stallions, but it was as close as the Stallions would get and the Raiders won 7-5.
Brady Newmeyer, a spokesperson for the Raiders, said the team stayed calm after losing Game 1 and the guys managed to fight back with two straight wins. The team could not get its bats going in the first game, but the bats came alive after the loss, he said.
“We started hitting the ball and just making things work,” he said, recognizing that pitching was crucial for the team with two big wins by veteran starters McKee and Ismond. “Everyone did a job here the last two nights.”
Ismond pitched 14 innings in three days with a solid performance in Game 1, and a championship winning performance in Game 3. Newmeyer said the team had a couple players who could have pitched an inning or two if needed, but the team leaned on Ismond and McKee.
He noted that the Raiders have a good character group at the team’s core, and a more patient approach at the plate helped to get the job done in the final two games. He gave credit to the young, talented Stallions team for being a great opponent. He said the Raiders leaned on their experience and it was awesome to win back-to-back.
“We all know our role on the team,” he said, adding that there is always someone to step up if a guy is not feeling it and a shake up to the lineup after Game 1 helped to energize the bats. “Guys are just happy to play.”
Newmeyer said the Stallions have nothing to hang their heads about after a hard-fought series. He added that he wanted to give a shout out to all five of Kindersley’s FVBL teams and a special shout out to the fans for their excellent support in the FVBL final.
After 14 innings in three days, Ismond said his arm was sore and it was going to hurt for a big. He said it would not be serious pain, but it would be aggravating. He noted that he has always been able to throw a lot of innings, so it is not new for him.
He said he had shoulder surgery seven years ago, so it has been a long road back to feeling comfortable throwing complete games. He once through 14 straight innings in a double header, so he has been there before. The game plan was to mix speeds with pitches because the Stallions are a good fastball hitting team, he explained.
Ismond said he believes the differences between him and McKee helped to keep the Stallions off balance at the plate. The Raiders have one three FVBL championships in four years, and it is special to win two in a row with the veteran squad.
“It’s good because we’re all getting up there in age,” he said, adding that there is a lot of good baseball talent being developed in Kindersley and it is nice for the team to prove it still has what it takes to win. “I think we prove it every year and it’s great. The fans came out this year.”
Jamieson, a spokesperson for the Stallions, said two finals appearances in the team’s first two seasons is an accomplishment and the losses are good learning experiences for the young team. He said the team has excellent building blocks in place.
He noted that the team had great pitching throughout the playoffs and the final series, but the team struggled at the plate early in the final two games against the Raiders. He said a team cannot wait until the last inning to get the bats going. It was a disappointing outcome, but a successful playoff run.
“We’re still young and trying to get things figured out,” Jamieson said. “For the most part, it was a good run. Honestly, the best part was being able to play the Raiders in the final and get all the fans out to the diamond. That’s just as good as it gets right there.”
The spokesperson said it was a great accomplishment to beat the Oyen Eagles in the semifinal series. He agreed that Harris pitched great during the playoffs as the winning pitcher in four of the team’s five playoff wins.
Jamieson said the Stallions and three members of the Raiders are heading to Estevan this weekend to play in the Senior AA Tier 2 provincial championships. He added that he expects the baseball to be very competitive this weekend.
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