The Corner Brook Barons had the St. John’s Capitals on the edge, but couldn’t knock them over.
Sunday afternoon at St. Pat’s Ball Park, the Capitals pulled out a 2-1 victory over Corner Brook in Game 6 of the Molson provincial senior baseball championship to force a seventh and deciding game, then proceeded to lambaste the visiting Barons 11-1 in an evening contest to claim their 18th all-Newfoundland title in the last 19 years.
The Game 7 result stood in contrast to the remainder of the series, which featured three one-run games, including an extra-inning victory by the Barons last weekend in Corner Brook. In fact, heading into the deciding contest, the overall run differential in the series was one, with the Barons having scored 21 times to 20 for the Capitals.
The Barons brought a 2-1 lead to St. Pat’s after the two teams opened the series with three games at Corner Brook’s Jubilee Field in late July.
On Saturday, St. John’s drew even with a 1-0 win behind the three-hit, shutout pitching of Scott Goosney, but Barons lefty Matt Colbourne responded with a three-hitter of his own as the visitors retook the series lead with a 4-1 victory Saturday night.
Corner Brook, which last won a provincial crown in 2013, had a shot claim another in Sunday’s first game, but St. John’s got a run in the fifth inning, survived wasting a bases-loaded opportunity in the sixth, then managed to come up with the winning score in walkoff fashion in the bottom of the seventh, necessitating the do-or-die contest, where the perennial champions re-staked their title claim with an exclamation mark.
Andrew Paul of the Capitals (.438 batting average) was the series MVP, while St. John’s southpaw Greg Barry was named the top pitcher.
The Capitals will represent the province at the 2018 Canadian senior men’s championship in Victoria, B.C., later this month, but would have done so no matter how this year’s provincial final had turned out. Their representation is based on their 2017 Newfoundland title.
Twitter: @telysports
