Wildcats complete upset of Dartmouth

BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

It may not have seemed possible - or even probable - at the conclusion of the regular season, but the Kentville Wildcats are playing in the Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League final – and the Dartmouth Moosehead Dry aren’t.

Staring elimination and an early end to their season squarely in the face, the Wildcats won not once, but twice last weekend - a 3-1 victory Sept. 13 in Kentville followed by a 13-9 win Sept. 14 in Dartmouth – to capture the series, four games to three.

Sunday’s game marked the third matchup of the series between Kentville’s Curtis Falls, the game one winner, and Dartmouth’s Jacon Bailey, who had prevailed in game three.

As had been the case in game one, the Wildcats struck early with two runs in the first inning and one in the third. After Dartmouth narrowed the deficit to 3-2, Kentville plated three more runs in the top of the fifth for a 6-2 advantage.

The teams traded runs in the fifth, and Dartmouth then scored three in the bottom of the sixth to close to 7-6. Not to be denied, Kentville responded with four runs in the eighth and two in the ninth and held on for a 13-9 win.

Kevin Nichols and Matt Lloy followed Falls on the mound, and though Dartmouth ended up with 14 hits – the same number as Kentville – the Wildcats did a better job of translating hits into runs.

Ryan Brothers had a four-hit game – a home run, double and two singles – to lead the Wildcats’ offense. Luke Smith, who had an outstanding series offensively as well as playing all seven games behind the plate, added three singles and drove in three runs. Mike Lockhart, bothered by back problems throughout the series, had three singles and one RBI. Kevin Benjamin chipped in two singles and one RBI.

Bailey was relieved by Steve Nelson in the seventh inning, but it really didn’t seem to matter to Kentville, who the Dry had on the mound as Nelson allowed four runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth.

The Wildcats forced the seventh and deciding game with a well-earned 3-1 win Saturday in Kentville. Jeff Bishop, called up from the Hantsport Shamrocks, won a pitching duel with Dartmouth veteran Trevor Zwann. He scattered nine hits in a complete-game performance; Zwann was almost as good, allowing eight hits but surrendering three runs to Bishop’s one.

As they had in all four of their series wins, the Wildcats made the best of their opportunities, getting the key hits when they needed them. Ian Lockhart had three singles and drove in a run, Falls chipped in two singles and Smith an RBI single.

With the win, the Wildcats advanced to the league final for a third straight year and, for a change, their final opponent will not be the Moosehead Dry, whom Kentville faced seven times in the final between 1996 and 2007.

At press time, Truro and Halifax had not yet decided their semifinal series. After Truro won the first three games, Halifax roared back to square the series at three games apiece, with game seven scheduled for this past Tuesday in Halifax.

The winner of the NSSBL final will represent Nova Scotia at next summer’s national championships in Dartmouth, with the Moosehead Dry as host team.