The Carillon Sultans remained perfect, winning both their games on Friday without allowing a run against, giving them a 3-0 record heading into Saturday.
"Obviously, very happy with the start," coach Don Meilleur says with a smile. "3-0 with a chance (Saturday) to clinch first, and a bye to the semi's. We are playing such good defense right now. We haven't given up a run. Pitching has been great, we're filling the zone, but when these guys are hitting the ball to us, we're not making errors. We make hard plays, we're turning double plays, just everything you need in a team for a quality game, not giving the other team any life. We're doing it, and it's such a joy to watch, it's really, really good baseball, and I hope we can keep it up tomorrow and in to Sunday."
In the first game, the Sultans won 8-0, and there were a few things that stood out to Meilleur. "We had Ethan Giesbrecht, one of our pickups from Altona, he started the game for us, and he is one of the best pitchers in Manitoba. They did time up some balls, but our defense was there to make plays. We got a few runs early on to give us some breathing room, but we never, even as an 8-0 game, it was never a foregone conclusion. They were a really good team, we had to play well, we had to play good defense, we had to get some timely hits, but the things that we're doing, we're not giving teams any life when they star to get rallies. That was a big reason why we won that first game."
Winning the first game was exactly what Meilleur was hoping for, but the fact the group dug in and won their second game, says a lot about the resolve of the group. "We knew the Halifax team won their province, so they were a good team. We didn't want to let that win against Ontario let us rest on how the rest of the tournament would go. We knew you might win that one big game, but if you let your foot off the gas peddle, you'd be right back to square one. The guys are really focused, you can tell they are happy with what they've done, but this team knows there is more. We're not satisfied, they know that every game is important, and they have such a professional deminer about them when they're going out onto the field to play these games, it's just a joy to coach. Hopefully, we can keep it going."
Not giving up a single run so far, the Sultans players are encouraging one another, not feeling the pressure to be perfect, something Meilleur says stands out. "Even when other teams start getting runners in scoring position, the chatter picks up on the bench, the chatter picks up on the field, because guys know, not that guys care about shutouts, that's not what we're here for, but there is some pride for. It's better than any team has done in this tournament. The guys are taking pride in that, picking each other up, talking about how they need to get out of innings. They believe in their teammates, that that they'll get the big strikeout, or they'll make the big play. It's been such elation from the bench that it carries on to the field, it's great."
Heading into Saturday, Meilleur is feeling very good about where they are in regards to being at their best. "Very happy with where we are at, in regards to our pitching. The second game today, it was a 6-0 win, but it was only 2-0 after four (innings), so it was tight. We had Ryan Powers start for us today, then Andres Meilleur came in and got the last two innings for us. We got some clutch RBI's late in the game, which gave us a breather. (Saturday) we have Brayden Fehr, a pick up from Pembina Valley, if we win that game, it's an automatic bye to the semi's on Sunday. Brayden is a really good pitcher, really happy he's in the spot to get us that win. Going into Sunday, we have all of our big arms ready to go. We have Ethan Giesbrecht, Colson Smith, we haven't even used Cedric Lagasse, he's got one inning so far, so we're in really good shape. I assume other teams are in similar shape, so we can't worry about that, but we're happy with who we have coming up, and who we have available on Sunday."
Being perfect to this point is not something Meilleur believes is weighing on the group, he knows they're focused on more that just being great early. "I can confidently say, as a staff, we are not worried about this group at all. Tonight, we're going out as a group, and we're inviting all the families, we're all going to downtown Halifax to have a good night, but the guys are all talking, they know they have a job to do on Saturday. They are managing themselves, they're all young men, they're mature, they know why we are here, They don't want this moment to pass, we know we can't take our foot off the peddle. There are still really good teams out there, and we know we haven't done anything yet, until Sunday comes around. We're not questioning anything, because we know they are a mature bunch.
Thanks to what they've done so far, Saturday as of now, has just the one game. "It will be 10:30 a.m. for fans in Manitoba, and we play PEI," explains Meilleur. "A win gets us to 4-0 and a likely semifinal game, which means we don't have to play in the quarterfinal and use more pitching."