CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The 2019 New Brunswick Junior Baseball League season has come to an end for the P.E.I. Little Caesars Islanders
The Saint John Alpines swept a doubleheader at Memorial Field in Charlottetown on Sunday afternoon to clinch the best-of-five semifinal series 3-1. The teams had split the first two games in Saint John, N.B., on Saturday.
Saint John now awaits the winner of the Metro Mudcats and Chatham Ironmen semifinal series, which gets under way this week.
Following are recaps of the Islanders-Alpines’ games:
Game 1
Alpines 5 Islanders 0
Ryan Nason and reliever Matt Oram handcuffed the Islanders on a one-hit shutout. A first-inning single by Josh Myers was the only blemish on Saint John’s pitching summary.
Tom Gogan's two-run homer was the key blow for the Alpines, who also received two hits from Matt Dignam.
Nolan Hicken, who was relieved by Eric Anderson, took the pitching loss.
Game 2
Islanders 4 Alpines 0
P.E.I. turned the tables in Game 2 behind a dominant pitching performance from Gabe Penalver. Penalver took a shutout into the seventh inning, scattering six hits and striking out nine. Ethan Francis came on to strike out the last two batters for the save.
The Isles scored twice in the first on RBI hits from Connor McGregor and John Savidant. P.E.I. scored two more runs in the fourth on a run-scoring double from Pat Young and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Patrick Gallant.
Savidant had three hits for the Islanders while McGregor added two. Connor Jones and Elijah Hood chipped in singles.
Greg Mitchell was the losing pitcher and Cole Flowers had two hits for the Alpines
Game 3
Alpines 2 Islanders 0
The Alpines received another masterful pitching performance from a Nason, this time by Ryan's twin brother, Matt. He allowed only a single and a double to Myers while striking out 10.
The Alpines scored two unearned runs in the first inning off Tanner MacLean for the only runs the visitors would need. Zach Allain led off with a walk and the next batter hit a double-play grounder that was botched in the Islanders' infield. Gogan followed with a two-run triple.
MacLean was again outstanding for P.E.I., pitching into the sixth inning before being relieved by Francis.
Flowers had two more hits for Saint John.
Game 4
Alpines 9 Islanders 5
P.E.I. held a 5-4 lead into the sixth inning, but its short-handed pitching staff couldn't hold it and the Alpines scored five times over the last two innings for the series-clinching victory.
Flowers had three more hits and Dignam added two for the winners.
Dawson Griffin picked up the win in relief of Connor Huckings. Patrick Gallant battled through five innings and was tagged with the loss.
McGregor and Noah Duckworth had two hits each for P.E.I. while Myers, Savidant, Young and Penalver and Jones all had one.
