Kentville Wildcats coach Ian Mosher was all smiles after an extra inning, walk-off win against Halifax in the home opener at Memorial Park June 1.
Despite an early 2-0 lead after two innings, Halifax came storming back tie things up in the ninth.
Devon Boutillier, who drove two hours and didn’t arrive at the field until 10 p.m., went on as a pinch hitter and scored the tying run for the Wildcats to force the extra inning.
Halifax scored two runs at the top of the 10th, turning it into a nail-biter for the Wildcats and the fans that stuck it out in cool temperatures late into the evening.
“It came down to the last out and our guys went to the plate and did amazing things,” Mosher said. “This is the kind of win we’ll look back at, at the end of the year, and realize it was a really important milestone moment. Our guys had every opportunity to hang their head and quit but they didn’t.”
Instead, they rallied, with Joey Cavadini, Tyler Fancy, John Ansara, Jason Pleasant-Sampson and Alex Ostrov – who Mosher described as “the star of the game” – all pulled out strong performances to make it a 6-5 win.
“Alex played all the game at third, then came in as the pitcher - and it looked to all the world like he’d be the losing pitcher,” Mosher said. “And then he got the winning hit, and it was one of those magic moments in baseball where you’re carried off the field and you’ve won it.”
The win was important for the psyche of the Wildcats, Mosher added.
“Our team will forever now believe that no matter how far you are behind, no matter how bad it looks, you can turn things around,” he said.
The Wildcats will host Dartmouth June 5 at 7 p.m., then host Sydney for a three-game series with games June 10 at 7:30 p.m. and June 11 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Kentville Wildcats coach Ian Mosher was all smiles after an extra inning, walk-off win against Halifax in the home opener at Memorial Park June 1.
Despite an early 2-0 lead after two innings, Halifax came storming back tie things up in the ninth.
Devon Boutillier, who drove two hours and didn’t arrive at the field until 10 p.m., went on as a pinch hitter and scored the tying run for the Wildcats to force the extra inning.
Halifax scored two runs at the top of the 10th, turning it into a nail-biter for the Wildcats and the fans that stuck it out in cool temperatures late into the evening.
“It came down to the last out and our guys went to the plate and did amazing things,” Mosher said. “This is the kind of win we’ll look back at, at the end of the year, and realize it was a really important milestone moment. Our guys had every opportunity to hang their head and quit but they didn’t.”
Instead, they rallied, with Joey Cavadini, Tyler Fancy, John Ansara, Jason Pleasant-Sampson and Alex Ostrov – who Mosher described as “the star of the game” – all pulled out strong performances to make it a 6-5 win.
“Alex played all the game at third, then came in as the pitcher - and it looked to all the world like he’d be the losing pitcher,” Mosher said. “And then he got the winning hit, and it was one of those magic moments in baseball where you’re carried off the field and you’ve won it.”
The win was important for the psyche of the Wildcats, Mosher added.
“Our team will forever now believe that no matter how far you are behind, no matter how bad it looks, you can turn things around,” he said.
The Wildcats will host Dartmouth June 5 at 7 p.m., then host Sydney for a three-game series with games June 10 at 7:30 p.m. and June 11 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
