This Week in the CBL

Published on July 3, 2003 under Canadian Baseball League (CanBL) News Release

Week number six of the Canadian Baseball League saw some grounds gained and some lost.

The London Monarchs took three of four from the Calgary Outlaws at Burns Stadium. That was just enough to wrestle the crown of best team in the CBL away from the Outlaws.

Still, it was not enough to for the Monarchs themselves to lay claim to the title. Oh sure, the three wins gave them sole possession of first in the Eastern Division but when the dust had settled, the Saskatoon Legends - who took three of four from the Niagara Stars while averaging nearly nine runs a game - were back atop the entire league - by two percentage points.

Meanwhile, the Kelowna Heat became, well, hot. Very hot, as in hottest team in the CBL.

Including the Canada Day trouncing it handed the Monarchs, the Heat is riding a five-game winning streak through Canada Day and is hosting the Monarchs again Wednesday through Saturday.

And in the most competitively balanced series, the Victoria Capitals at the Trois-Rivieres Saints, had the fourth game rained out, spoiling Baseball Night in Canada for nearly 2000 Saints faithful. Still the series saw the Capitals win two and the Saints one, powered by a 15 run explosion.

PLATE PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK

Ben Van Iderstine and Kenny White earn co-honours this week. Both had 4-for-5, five RBI performances in a 20-10 runfest Saskatoon Legends victory over the Trois-Rivieres Saints on Canada Day.

PITCHING LINE OF THE WEEK

Calgary Outlaws' Jesus Matos went nine innings in a 6-1 win against the London Monarchs. He gave up seven hits, never walked a batter and struck out 11.

ON DECK

The biggest series of the week could be the London Monarchs at the Kelowna Heat. The Monarchs, through Canada Day, had won eight of 12 and the Heat had won six straight.

The Heat is one game away from .500, have won six consecutive contests, trail the Calgary Outlaws by just 2 1/2 games for second in the Western Division, have averaged 12 runs a game in their last three and just drubbed the Eastern Division's best team, the London Monarchs, 16-5. Easily enough credibility to be called the hottest team in the CBL

But, the Monarchs are still a great club. Besides Todd Etler, closer Ichiro Shibata has eight saves and 2.37 ERA. At the dish, Kitchener-born Jeff Pietraszko has been on fire as of late. He is hitting .400 in his last 11 games and leads the team in RBI. This past weekend he had three triples in Calgary and drove in six, and celebrated Canada Day with his third home run of the year.

In Calgary, the Outlaws are aching and they have already lost one game in the five-game series against the visiting Montreal Royales. The Royales played error free ball and that helped.

"If you look at the score sheets, we'd have three or four errors and you give up three runs every two errors, it's not going to help you and it's almost impossible to win," said pitcher, Nat Thomas.

The other two series taking place are:

Saskatoon @ Trois-Rivieres - the Legends are scoring runs and the Saints are looking to stay in the Eastern hunt.

Victoria @ Niagara - Victoria has lost more than few games by one run or less and Pete LaCock, the manager of the Stars, says his team is still one good ball club despite losing seven of ten recently.

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GO TO www.canadianbaseballleague.com and check out the Scoreboard for complete box scores and recaps of all CBL games.

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Inaugural 2003 CBL ALL-STAR BLAST-OFF (July 22) and ALL-STAR GAME (July 23) at Burns Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. Tickets are on sale NOW at all Ticketmaster locations across Canada and online at www.ticketmaster.ca.

Specials guests, family fun, autographs, displays, games, prizes, contests, giveaways, celebrity home run challenge, CBL Home Run Derby, and of course, the best of the West meets the best of the East in the CBL's inaugural All-Star Game.

Don't miss this historic event at Burns Stadium in Calgary. Call the Ticketmaster nearest you, or visit www.ticketmaster.ca to order tickets online!

Canadian Baseball League Stories from July 3, 2003

• CBL Names Players of the Month - CanBL
• CBL coming to Moose Jaw - CanBL
• CBL Wednesday Wrapup - CanBL
• This Week in the CBL - CanBL

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