By Eric Bourque
THE VANGUARD
The Yarmouth Dooly’s Gateways will be back in action this weekend, as they visit the Hantsport Shamrocks, the same team that defeated them twice in Yarmouth on July 21.
The teams are scheduled to face each other again Sunday, Aug. 4.
The Gateways – who lost to the Shamrocks here by scores of 10-2 and 6-1 – came out of that doubleheader with a won-lost record of 6-10, tied with the Pictou County Albions for fourth place in the Nova Scotia Intermediate Baseball League standings.
Hantsport was leading the league at 11-4, just a half-game up on the Noel Road Blue Jays, who were 10-4. (The Shamrocks and Blue Jays were scheduled to play each other July 28.)
The third-place Windsor Knights were 10-6 heading into a July 28 twin bill against the Bridgewater Bulldogs (4-7).
As for the Gateways, looking beyond their Aug. 4 games in Hantsport, the Yarmouth club is scheduled to play Noel Road here Saturday, Aug. 17.
The Gateways may have to travel to Windsor to make up some rained-out games, but those have yet to be scheduled.
The top four teams qualify for the league’s playoff tournament, which will take place the weekend of Aug. 24.
The Gateways, meanwhile, already know they will be in action over the Labour Day weekend, given that they are the host team for the intermediate AAA provincials.
In the more immediate future, though, the Yarmouth team is looking to secure a berth in the league playoff tourney.
Contacted a few days after the Gateways dropped both ends of their July 21 doubleheader with Hantsport, Yarmouth player Darren Ogden said, “Lately we’ve just hit a bit of a dry spell with the bats, haven’t been able to get many runs scored. We have hits, but I guess we’re not getting hits at the right time.”
Yarmouth’s season may not have gone like the Gateways had hoped heading into 2013, he said, but he points to the league’s top two or three teams to illustrate the calibre of opponents in the league this year.
“You can’t (afford to) to have bad games in this league,” he said.
Referring to the league’s upcoming championship tournament, he said, “Right now we’re just fighting to get that last playoff spot.”
