Byron Ismond of the Kindersley Raiders, the team’s starting pitcher for games one and three of the Fertile Valley Baseball League final, delivers a pitch in Game 3 of the series on Aug. 2 at Berard Field in Kindersley. The Raiders would go on to win Game 3 to repeat as FVBL champions. (Below) Jory Niwa of the Kindersley Stallions makes solid contact with the ball in Game 3 of the league final.

Kenneth Brown
of The Crossroads

The Kindersley Raiders are Fertile Valley Baseball League champions for a second year in a row after defeating the Kindersley Stallions in a three-game series.

Three large crowds at Berard Field in Kindersley enjoyed the thrilling best-of-three series played on consecutive days from June 30 to Aug. 2. The Stallions won Game 1 before the more experienced Raiders battled back to win the series.

In Game 1, the Stallions edged the Raiders by a score of 2-1. Starting pitchers Corson Harris of the Stallions and Byron Ismond of the Raiders both pitched all seven innings. A couple errors early in Game 1 put the Raiders down, and neither team could manage to score runs in the late innings.

The Raiders bats came alive early in the second and third games. A sacrifice bunt and an RBI single allowed the Raiders to get a run in the first inning of Game 2, and a solo home run off the bat of Matt Dunn added to the lead in the second inning.

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After each team added two runs in the middle innings to make the score 4-2 for the Raiders, the Raiders added two more runs in the sixth inning. The Stallions clawed back in the final inning to make the score 6-5 with runners on second and third with two outs. Raiders pitcher Tyler McKee got a strike out to end the threat.

The starting pitchers for Game 3 were Ismond for the Raiders and Kyle Donaldson for the Stallions. The third game took on a similar feel to Game 2 with the Raiders getting up early in the contest. The Raiders scored a single run in the bottom of the first inning when Clayton Artymovich hit an RBI single to score Jeff Kosolofski after Kosolofski stole second base to get into scoring position.

The big damage was done later in the game when Kosolofski came up with the bases loaded and he cleared the bases with a double. The three runs were part of a four-run inning and after the Stallions scored a couple of runs, the score was 7-2 when the Stallions came up to bat in the last inning.

A resilient Stallions team fought back in the top of the seventh. The score was 7-4 and the bases were loaded, so the tying run was on first base. A walk with two outs scored the fifth run for the Stallions, but it was as close as they would get and the Raiders won 7-5.

Brady Newmeyer, a spokesperson for the Raiders, said the team stayed calm after losing Game 1 and the guys managed to fight back with two straight wins. The team could not get its bats going in the first game, but the bats came alive after the loss, he said.

“We started hitting the ball and just making things work,” he said, recognizing that pitching was crucial for the team with two big wins by veteran starters McKee and Ismond. “Everyone did a job here the last two nights.”

Ismond pitched 14 innings in three days with a solid performance in Game 1, and a championship winning performance in Game 3. Newmeyer said the team had a couple players who could have pitched an inning or two if needed, but the team leaned on its starters. It was awesome to win back-to-back championships, he commented.

Newmeyer said the Stallions have nothing to hang their heads about after a hard-fought series. He added that he wanted to give a shout out to all five of Kindersley’s FVBL teams and a special shout out to the fans for their excellent support in the final.

Austin Jamieson, a spokesperson for the Stallions, said two final appearances in the team’s first two seasons is an accomplishment and the losses are good learning experiences for the young team. He said the team has excellent building blocks in place.

He noted that the team had great pitching throughout the playoffs and the final series, but the team struggled at the plate early in the final two games against the Raiders. He said a team cannot wait until the last inning to get its bats going. It was a disappointing outcome for a successful playoff run.

“We’re still young and trying to get things figured out,” Jamieson said. “For the most part, it was a good run. Honestly, the best part was being able to play the Raiders in the final and get all the fans out to the diamond. That’s just as good as it gets right there.”

Ryan Wickett, the league’s president, said it was a successful 2018 season for the FVBL. He noted that every team in the league is winning games and he believes there is getting to be more parody throughout the league.

He noted that the 2018 playoffs are proof of the parody in the league. Wickett, who plays for the Rosetown Angels, said every playoff series went to a third game and any time a league ends up with the maximum number of games played in the playoffs, it says a lot about the quality of teams.

The FVBL started with four teams in 2011 and the teams were the Angels, Kindersley Klippers, Eston Ramblers and Brock Braves. The Ramblers and Braves have since folded, but the league has gone through several changes and grown to 12 teams.

“Any kind of expansion you can have within your own area is good for ball in the area,” he said, recognizing that he hopes the interest trickles down to the minor ball programs in the communities. “I think it’s great for the fans, great for the players and great for the communities.”

Wickett said senior baseball is as strong as he has seen it in west central Saskatchewan in his years. He noted that Outlook ended up with a former NCAA pitcher in the community and it leads to a new team in Outlook and the league, but other teams are attracting excellent players and it could only be good for the league going forward.

The FVBL president said the league’s current teams are showing stability and it bodes well for the future. He added that there is even talk of further expansion, so the teams will have to discuss going to two divisions if more communities start up a program.

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