The Carte Blanche Rotarians opened the North Bay Senior Men's Baseball final with an 8-3 win over the young North Bay Stingers Midgets in game one of the best-of-three series which took place Sunday night at the Steve Omischl Sports Complex.
Rotarians pitcher Devin Smith got the win on the mound while Stingers starter Kyle Kennedy suffered the loss for the Stingers.
The Stingers got on the board first in the top of the second inning with a pair of runs, but immediately gave those back in the bottom half when Sterling Bilz drove in two with a line drive to right field to tie the game.
Devin Smith then settled down on the mound for the CBR as he would pitch a complete game, striking out four in seven innings and allowing three runs while scattering nine hits.
The Carte Blanche Rotarians put up a four spot in the 3rd as they patiently waited out four walks, capped off by another 2-run single by Bilz, who went 3-3 on the day, pushing the Rotarians ahead 6-2.
After the Stingers cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth, CBR's catcher Adam Campbell hit a 2-run double in the bottom half to recoup those runs and put the Carte Blanche Rotarians ahead for good.
Kevin Palfrey, Chris Dowdall and Gavin Poitras all had a pair of hits in the game, while scoring twice each.
The Carte Blanche Rotarians will look to finish off this best of three series with a win tonight, while the Stingers, who have staved off elimination three times already this post-season, and will have to win two in a row to capture the championship. Game Two goes tonight(Monday) at Steve Omischl Sports Complex with first pitch at 7pm.
Game two of the best-of-three affair will take place on Monday night at the Steve Omischl Sports Complex. First pitch to take place at 7 p.m.
