The ball sails over the head of leaping Veitch’s Ultramar Hawks catcher Daniel Humber after bouncing in the dirt, as West Side Monarchs’ Colton Kennedy bolts towards home plate to score during fourth-inning Corner Brook Molson Senior Baseball League playoff action at Jubilee Field on Thursday evening.
And the West Side Monarchs have a 1-0 lead in its best-of-five Corner Brook Molson Senior Baseball League semifinal series against the Veitch’s Ultramar Hawks.
Steve Shepherd smashed a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning on Thursday night, as the last-place Monarchs stunned the post-seasons’s top seed by a 5-4 score at Jubilee Field.
The Monarchs finished the year in the basement of the league standings, with a 7-17 record, well behind the pace set by the 22-2 Hawks.
None of that meant anything once the first pitch was thrown in the playoffs.
Michael Tavenor was another standout for the gold and black in the upset win, going 3-for-3 on the night with two runs scored and an RBI. He also earned the pitching victory, posting 10 strikeouts through eight innings, while giving up just two earned runs — four overall — on six hits. He walked two batters.
Aaron Sheppard was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Chris Gaudon scored a run for the Hawks in a 2-for-3 showing, while Mike Brake cracked a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning in a 1-for-4 night at the dish.
Losing pitcher Frank Humber also went the distance on the mound in the extra-inning affair, surrendering five runs — four earned — on nine hits. He struck out six, with no walks.
The series resumes 7 p.m. Monday with Game 2 at Jubilee Field.
In the late game, the second-place Veitch Physiotherapy Aces beat the Wing n' It Curling Marlins 11-8.
Game 2 of that series goes 7 p.m. Tuesday night.
