Portage Padres win Santa Clara championship
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- Published on Wednesday, August 17, 2016
The Portage Padres celebrate their first SCBL Championship.
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
A historic run of dominance in the Santa Clara Baseball League (SCBL) has come to an end, as the Portage Padres have defeated the Minnedosa Mavericks three games to one in the championship series. This marks the end of a decade long run for the Mavericks as the top team in the SCBL
The Padres were able to claim the championship, thanks to a dramatic 8-7 win on Tuesday, Aug. 16 in Portage la Prairie. Minnedosa was able to jump out to an early lead, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. Portage would reply, however, with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the first to make it 4-2. It would remain that way until the bottom of the fifth, when Portage added another run to make it 4-3.
Then in the seventh and final inning of the game, things opened up offensively for both sides. First, the Mavs would score three runs in the top of the seventh, providing them a comfortable 7-3 margin. The Mavericks were able to quickly secure the first two outs in the bottom of the inning, seemingly locking up the game and sending the series back to Minnedosa for a fifth and deciding game. The Padres however, had other plans, as they were able to get on base with a pair of singles. At that moment, Brodie Blight of the Padres did something he hasn’t done all year, hit a home run. The three run round-tripper brought the team and its large group of fans who stuck it out until the very end into a wild celebration. After the game, Blight noted, with a chuckle, that perhaps, “All my life, I was saving my only home run for this series.”
The Padres’ work was not yet completed, however, as they still trailed by a run. After getting a few more bodies on the bases, Rob Moar, of Portage, drove in an RBI to tie things up at 7-7. Then the game took a strange turn, as a pair of Portage batters were hit by pitches back-to-back, which ended up walking in the game and series winning run. Padres pitcher Dustin Donald was the final hit batter and was credited with the winning RBI. Donald said while the ending may not be as epic as Joe Carter’s walk off homer in the 1993 World Series, he’ll take it.
“Ever since I saw everyone coming up to the plate and we hit that three run bomb there, I was just waiting for my opportunity and it came. A hit-by-pitch isn’t too special, but a win’s a win and we’ll take it,” said Donald.
The series victory has special significance for the Padres, as they dedicated their season to Chad Miller, a former teammate who passed away in 2014.
