Dane Roy has known nothing but success in the Memorial Field Fastball League.
As the Canadians searched for their fifth straight title, Roy played a big role. He led off the first inning with a grand slam and hit a triple in the second inning as the Canadians beat Remax 10-5 to sweep the series.
“It was a two strike pitch that I didn’t want to strike out on,” said Roy of the grand slam. “It just happened to be up a little bit. I was just trying to put the ball in the air to score a run.
“You can’t ask for much more — two come-from-behind wins in Game 1 and 2 and then we got the job done in Game 3 with nine guys.”
Roy finished a single short of hitting for the cycle in the series clincher. After winning a title in each of his five seasons, the centrefielder marvelled at his start in the game.
“They dragged me out to batting practice,” said Roy when asked how he first came to try fastball.
“It’s a priviledge to be a part of this league. There’s a lot of history in this league.”
After coming from behind to win the first two games of the series, the Canadians didn’t waste time getting on top Tuesday night.
Roy did his job batting clean-up as he cleared the bases. The Canadians’ first four batters all scored to open the game. Dave Helland added a solo home run in the first to put the Canadians ahead 5-0.
“We definitely knew that if we gave Remax life we were going to end up paying for it and it could be Game 5 in a hurry,” said Roy.
Remax struck back in the top of the second with three runs. Kris McSween hit a two-run double for Remax.
The Canadians just kept coming. Jeff Weekes tripled to drive in Chris Holoien and he came around to score on an errant throw. Roy did the same thing with his next at-bat. He seemed to be pushing his luck trying to stretch for a triple, but when the throw to third went out of play, he came around to score.
“We were all business trying to get something going. We were trying to be aggressive and force them to make plays,” said Roy.
Sean Lougheed hit a solo home run in the second for the Canadians as they went ahead 9-3.
Lougheed’s home run was his second of the series. Six different Canadians hit home runs in the three-game sweep.
For more please see Wednesday's Times-Herald.
