Carberry advances to SCBL final
- Details
- Published on Thursday, August 3, 2017
Photo courtesy of Aaron Wilgosh/Goldenwest Broadcasting
Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner
The Carberry Royals continue to be giant killers in the Santa Clara Baseball League playoffs. After eliminating the second seeded Minnedosa Mavericks in the opening round, the Royals followed that up with a semi-final series victory over the top ranked Portage Padres. Carberry secured their spot in the finals on Tuesday, Aug 1, with an 11-9 win in Portage la Prairie.
Royals pitcher Daylon Creasy collected the win, while Dustin Donald was handed the defeat for Portage.
The next challenge for seventh ranked Royals (4-8-2 regular season record) will be the third seeded Neepawa Cubs (8-5-1). The Cubs advanced to the Santa Clara Baseball League Championship series, after sweeping the Dauphin Brewers in their best-of-three semi-final. The Cubs earned their spot in the final with a 10-5 victory in Dauphin on Friday, July 28.
Previous to that series clinching win, the Cubs won game one in dominant fashion, blanking the Brewers 9-0 on Wednesday, July 26. Garrett Rempel lead the way for Neepawa, both on the mound and at the plate. Rempel nearly hit for the cycle with a single, double and triple and also registered seven strikeouts pitching for the Cubs.
The Cubs and Royals played one another twice during the regular season, with Neepawa claiming both games. The first game was in Neepawa and was a 1-0 pitcher’s showcase between Rempel and Carberry’s pitcher Bret Heselwood. The second game between the clubs was July 7 in Carberry and saw the Cubs score three late runs to upend the Royals by the score of 8-6. Game one of the best-of-five final will be played on Friday, Aug 4 in Neepawa. Opening pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
Cubs duo win league awards
A pair of players from the Neepawa Cubs have been honoured with year end awards. Garrett Rempel has been named the Santa Clara Baseball League’s most valuable player, while Cole Krutkewich was named the top rookie player of the 2017 Santa Clara season.
Rempel’s exceptional regular season included a .541 batting average, which was second-best in the league. He also added a league leading 13 stolen bases to his stat line, while striking out just three times over 42 regular season plate appearances. Rempel also had a solid season on the mound, with a record 4-0 and an exceptional 1.36 earned run average (ERA) and 34 strikeouts.
Rempel’s teammate, Cole Krutkewich earned the top rookie award for the 2017 Santa Clara season, after compiling a .296 batting average and a 3.86 ERA in 16 1/3 innings as a pitcher.
One other award which was announced by the league went to Jason Kirkland of the Portage Padres, who was named the top pitcher. He threw a league-high 40 1/3 innings and collected 50 strikeouts while maintaining a solid 2.26 ERA.
