Disappointing season, but Wildcats proving themselves

The Kentville Wildcats may not win the NSSBL championship this year – or even their playoff semifinal against Dartmouth – but they’ve done a pretty good job.

I wasn’t the only one who expressed some pre-season optimism about the Wildcats’ chances in 2008, and I’m sure I’m not the only one disappointed in an 11-18 regular season. I expected better from a team that started 4-0 and looked to have both depth and talent at just about every position.

The team still has a lot of pride and no shortage of talent, but I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting much from them now, in the semifinals against Dartmouth - especially after the way they ended the season.

As I write this, the Wildcats have scored impressive wins in two semifinal games against the Moosehead Dry. Kentville led in a 6-1 victory in game one, then staged a thrilling comeback in game two to turn a 6-3 deficit after seven innings into a 7-6 win. They’ve done it the right way, too, with timely hitting, solid pitching and – despite an occasional blip or two along the way – generally good defense, the difference in game two.

It’s been fairly well-publicized there are two spots at next summer’s nationals up for grabs in this year’s NSSBL playoffs. Win or lose, Dartmouth has one of them as the host, and some might suggest the Moosehead Dry don’t care if they win or lose now.

That’s never been the way Dartmouth operates and, for what it’s worth, it wasn’t evident at all in what I saw last Friday. Dartmouth lost – and Kentville won – fair and square.

If Dartmouth makes it to the NSSBL final, their opponent in that series will be the second Nova Scotia representative at nationals. For the Wildcats to make it to nationals, they will need to defeat Dartmouth and then the winner of the Truro-Halifax series, and capture the league championship. It’s a daunting task, but they’re certainly up to it - especially the way they’ve played the past week.

Shamrocks making their own dynasty

I can’t finish without a few words about the Hantsport Shamrocks.

Every year, I wait for ages to finally catch up with the Shamrocks and, every year, they keep - somehow - turning back the clock and continuing to win.

Hantsport recently won another NSIBL championship, their fourth in a row, and followed that up the next weekend with another provincial AAA title, their ninth in 13 years, along with nine league titles and three Atlantic crowns.

The Shamrocks have gotten their share of publicity over the years, but I still don’t think the program has gotten nearly the credit it deserves for the success the team has had.

For each of the past five seasons - and probably longer - the rest of the intermediate teams in the province (and there have been some good ones) have lined up to take their best shot at the Shamrocks. They usually always all end up falling short, whether it be at intermediate provincials, the league championship - and, very often,, both.

The Shamrocks’ record of success represents a dynasty that just about rivals Dartmouth’s at the senior level, and can take its place among the greatest sporting achievements our province has seen.