NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Ottawa Champions

Champions Edge Grays on Wet Night at RCGT Park

August 29, 2015 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Ottawa Champions News Release


Ottawa, ON - Despite the rainy conditions, the Ottawa Champions battled through the elements on Canadian Forces Appreciation Night to defeat the Garden State Grays 4-3 in comeback fashion at RCGT Park.

Albert Cartwright, Chris Winder, and Sebastien Boucher each had two hits and an RBI as the Champions edged the Grays 4-3.

"I don't know how the Grays lose so badly to other teams, they really play us hard," Champions manager Hal Lanier said. "We really made it exciting for the fans and they really gave me a bit of high blood pressure at the end."

The Champions opened the scoring in the second inning after loading the bases with one out.

Albert Cartwright dropped a bloop single into right that scored Roberto Ramirez, and Chris Winder followed that up with an RBI fielder's choice to the shortstop, making it 2-0.

With the team short staffed due to the injuries of Daniel Bick and Tyler Heil, Winder was forced to play in the infield. He received praise from manager Lanier after the game.

"He hasn't played there in a long, long time," Lanier said of Winder at shortstop, "and he made three of four excellent plays for us."

The Grays got within in a run in the fifth inning when Vincent Guglietti blasted a solo homerun over the fence in right field.

Grays manager T.J. Stanton was ejected in the top of the sixth inning for arguing a close play at first base.

After first base umpire Ian Kelley called Joe Poletsky out at first, Stanton raced across the diamond and immediately flung his hat to the ground, prompting Kelley to immediately give him the hook.

That seems to spark his team though, as they tied things up right afterwards, on a triple by Shawn Payne and an RBI single by Charley Thurber.

They took the lead an inning later on a solo homerun by Luis Gonzalez.

But Ottawa stormed back to take a 4-3 lead in the seventh on an RBI bunt single by Sebastien Boucher and an RBI single by Mike Schwartz.

The game ended on a close double play, where Albert Cartwright made a nice turn at second base to get the final out of the ballgame.

Garden State runner Norberto Susini didn't like the call, and threw his helmet toward the first base umpire Ian Kelley. He then followed Kelley all the way back to the umpire's exit, and had to be held back by his teammates.

The play was a fitting end to a wild game that included Stanton's ejection, and a Champions comeback.

Drew Granier (4-5) pitched seven innings to pick up the win, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out eight and walking three.

Jose Rosario (0-1) ended up with the loss in relief of John Tangherlini, who allowed two runs, but none earned, on six hits in six innings.

The Champions go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon at 1:35 pm as they send righthander Wilmer Font (8-3, 4.39 ERA) to the mound against Grays righthander Noah Piard (2-6, 3.90 ERA).

Check out the Ottawa Champions Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Canadian American League message board...

Canadian American League Stories from August 29, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central