Gemini baseball boys returning to OFSAA action after extended rain/wet field delay

The Tillsonburg Gemini boys baseball team remains in contention at OFSAA West regional qualifiers, scheduled to resume play Tuesday, June 10th in London following an extended combined rain/field conditions delay. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Post Correspondent

The Tillsonburg Gemini baseball team remains alive in Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) baseball contention following an extended rain delay.

“To be continued,” said coach Derek Partlo of his team’s scheduled return to action Tuesday, June 10th in London.

The ninth-seeded Gemini opened OFSAA West Regional playdowns Wednesday, June 4th in Windsor, riding another strong Brendan Van Den Neucker pitching performance to a 7-1 victory over eight-seeded West Niagara. Nathan Gaitens led Tillsonburg offensively with a triple and inside-the-park home run, said the coach.

“We controlled that game.”

Because of their seeding, the Gemini then faced number one Bishop Allen, which received a first-round bye. Strategically, Partlo elected to work his full roster into the contest which concluded 18-7 in favour of the top seed.

“We got everyone in and scored seven against them.”

With the loss, Tillsonburg faced fourth-seeded York Mills, winning by a mercy-rule 12-1 score behind a strong Paxton Bale pitching performance.

Their next scheduled game, Thursday, June 5th at 8 a.m., was rained out. Rising at 5 a.m. the following morning the Gemini travelled back to Windsor to take on Upper Canada College, a private sports academy/educational facility featuring on-site dormitory living.

“It’s kind of a next-level thing, but we were right with them in the bottom of the fourth,” said Partlo.

With Odin Oatway keeping things close on the mound, Tillsonburg was trailing by a single run with its two, three and four hitters coming to the plate. At that point, blue skies smiling on proceedings says Partlo, officials from the city stopped play, citing field conditions which were considered to be too wet.

The game was scheduled to resume play in London at 10 a.m., with Partlo and company far from being prepared to throw in the towel.

“In baseball, you’ve got to get 21 outs, you don’t play out the clock,” he said. “And our big bats are coming up.”

Tillsonburg needs three more wins to advance to the OFSAA West qualifier final said Partlo, with the top two teams advancing to a four-team provincial final including OFSAA East qualifiers from the Oshawa/Whitby region.

“It’s kind of set us up for the long route, but we’ve got plenty of pitching left, we’ve seen the other teams and feel we can play with them,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

The experience has been a great one for the team thus far Partlo concluded, with contributions from everyone.

“Our small-town boys are hanging right there with the big-city teams.”