Report on Vancouver Grey Sox from Ducks Unlimited Tournament in Sasketchewan, Canada:
Vancouver, BC
The Vancouver Grey Sox traveled to Saskatchewan last Thursday for a doubleheader in Saskatoon on June 15 and the Ducks Unlimited Tournament in Melfort June 16-18. The Grey Sox were declared the winners in all games played, and the champions of the Ducks Unlimited event.
Under the Skins format for the Ducks Tournament the Grey Sox were able to advance to the final after picking up 6 Skins v. 4 Skins for SoCal Bombers, although SoCal scored 6 runs in the top of the first inning and the actual final score was 6-5 for the Bombers. Unfortunately, the Ducks Tournament fell almost two hours behind schedule on Sunday due to rainouts the previous day that were made up in full on Sunday, and a 16-16 extra inning marathon semi-final between Fargo Kegal Black Knights and Prince George on the Main Diamond. Thus the final, won 6-4 by Vancouver over Kegal, was severely time-restricted.
Thursday, June 15, at Saskatoon
Game 1
Grey Sox 3
Saskatoon Diamondbacks 0
W.P. Nick Underhill (1 hitter, 13 K’s) and Banner.
L.P. Jeff Farion and Norton
Game 2
Grey Sox 5
Aspen Black Sox 1
W.P. Rick Smith (2 hitter, 8k’s) and Waverick
L.P. Trevor Ethier and Gurash
Grey Sox – Dan Whiteford (3R HR); Trevor Johnstone 2/2 with a sac bunt and 2 RBI’s.
June 16-18 Ducks Unlimited Tournament – Melfort, SK
Game 1 vs Saskatoon Merchants (Friday, June 16)
Grey Sox 6 Skins (WP Mike Piechnik (Waverick))
Merchants 4 Skins (LP Heine Shannon)
Game 2 vs Stony Plains Alberta (2 innings played on Saturday, completed on Sunday)
Grey Sox 6 Skins (WP Nick Underhill (Banner)) Stony Plains 4 Skins (LP Darryl Tilley)
Game 3 vs Southern California Bombers (Sunday, June 18)
Grey Sox 9 Skins (WP Rick Smith (Waverick))
Bombers 1 Skin (LP Tony Peeples)
Game 4 Semifinal vs So Cal Bombers (Sunday, June 18)
Grey Sox 6 Skins (P Piechnik, Nick Underhill(1) (Banner))
Bombers 4 Skins (P Ryan Brand)
Game 5 Final vs Fargo Kegal Black Knights (Sunday, June 18)
Grey Sox 14 Skins (P Rick Smith (Banner))
Black Knights 6 Skins (P Tim Macumber)
There seems to be some controversy about the way the Tournament ended. Here is the Grey Sox situation. We indicated well before the draw was prepared, and reiterated during the weekend, that the team absolutely had to catch the last flight from Saskatoon (approx two hours driving distance from Melfort) to Vancouver departing on Sunday night at 7:55 p.m. as most of the players and coaches had to be at work on Monday morning. (They had already taken Thursday and Friday off work to play the requested doubleheader in Saskatoon on Thursday night and to be available to play a Friday night game in the Ducks event.) The Sunday final had been scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. but was pushed back to 4:45 p.m. Result was that tournament organizers, the Grey Sox and Kegal agreed to play an abbreviated final, ending at 5:30 p.m.. This compromise was announced by the Tournament Chair, Keith Mackintosh, over the P.A. prior to the start of the game. Kegal took a 4-1 lead in the final but the Grey Sox rallied for 5 runs to go ahead 6-4 when the game had to be called at the agreed time of 5:30 p.m. We would have much preferred to be able to play a full final but as it was made the flight out of Saskatoon with less than 5 minutes to spare.
The Grey Sox wish to publicly thank Tournament Chair Keith Mackintosh and his committee of volunteers as well as the Kegal organization for their cooperation under difficult circumstances for all.
Conrad Margolis
Vancouver Grey Sox