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August 13th, 2010
Spitfires Win 15-11
(Windsor) The Windsor Spitfires were honoured to partner with the Riverside Minor Baseball Association (RMBA) in the 2nd annual Spitfires vs. Media/Celebrity Charity Softball 3 Pitch Classic this past Friday at Riverside Minor Baseball Park in Windsor. The home run derby and game were both filled with exciting moments and amazing plays made by both sides with Team Spitfire avenging last year’s defeat to the opposing side, as they evened the series with a 15-11 win. Spitfire players Adam Henrique, Cam Fowler, Kenny Ryan, Zack Kassian, Stephen Johnston, Patrick Murphy and Mitch Dunning joined the Voice of the Spitfires, Mike Miller and Spits staff members Meghan Czerwieniec, Lynne Rozario and J.R. Grant who all proudly represented Team Spitfire.
The Media/Celebrity team was filled with talent and some of the finest and hard working people in the city. Their roster included Robert Scussolin, Dom Papa, Bill Kelso of TV COGECO, Bob Bellacicco of the A-Channel, Paul MacDonald and Chuck Mady representing AM800, Jugo Iloski of CFTV Leamington, Stuart Galloway – Spitfire Game Operations Producer and Owner of Galloway Show Productions, Mark Knight – Windsor Spitfires Game Announcer and Owner of Happy Feet Record Spinners, Brooke Pashley – Spitfires Game Night Announcer and TV COGECO personality, "Shoeless" Joe Bertochi and Jennifer (867-5309) MacPherson from In Play! Magazine and Tim "The Truth" Fairhurst from Biz X Magazine rounding out the roster for the opposing side.
During the home run derby, RMBA offered to donate $200 to local charities this year for every home run hit during the competition. Patrick Murphy of Team Spitfire put on a display never seen before at this event, as he hit a record five home runs during the competition while Stephen Johnston of Team Spitfire also hit two mammoth blasts. The seven home runs hit by the Spits raised $1,400 through RMBA and $655 in donations were collected at the game from fans in attendance, for a grand total of $2,055 to be distributed by RMBA to local charities.
To close out the evening, Team Spitfire and the Media/Celebrity Team put on display for fans in attendance and played a game that will not soon be forgotten. Team Spitfire came out of the gate strong and took a 9-0 lead after two innings of play. Not to be outdone, the Media/Celebrity squad held the Spits scoreless in the third and fourth innings, while putting together a two-run third inning and tacking on eight runs in the fourth to storm back and take a shocking 10-9 lead midway through the game.
After each team was unable to score in the fifth and sixth innings, Team Spitfire played with urgency and desperation as they scored three runs in both the seventh and eighth while holding the media to one run in the final three innings. Team Spitfire emerged with a 15-11 win on the strength of three home runs achieved by Derek Lanoue, Patrick Murphy and Adam Henrique.
The win evened the Spitfires vs. Media/Celebrity series at one game apiece. With this year’s win, the A-Channel’s Bob Bellacicco will now be forced to serve as the Spitfires “gopher” for an entire day in the upcoming season, following a bet made between him and Spitfires forward Kenny Ryan on who would win the game.
Patrick King, the official CHL correspondent of Sportsnet.ca played on the Media/Celebrity Team and offered his thoughts on what they were up against in the game, "The Spitfires were just too much for us to handle. They came at us with unrelenting waves of attack throughout the lineup. From Patrick Murphy's exquisite plate presence to the dynamic duo of Cam Fowler and Stephen Johnston through the middle of the defence, this was truly a force the Media All-Stars could not overcome. We look forward to our re-match next summer where we will look to take back the overall series lead. The only positive from tasting defeat will be seeing Bob Bellacicco pick up pucks for the Spits at a team practice, this should be hilarious!”
A dejected Bob Bellacicco reminisced on what might have been for the Media/Celebrity Team, “After a big 8 run inning I thought we had them but to their credit the Spits came back. I’m sure Kenny Ryan will enjoy making me fetch pucks and put away sticks as I fulfill my end of the lost bet. I look forward to the rematch next summer! You know what they say about paybacks”.
The Spitfires look forward to participating in the game again next summer and would to thank Bill Kell and Tim Hamilton from Riverside Minor Baseball Association, all of the Spitfire fans in attendance as well as members of the Media/Celebrity team for their efforts in making this event a huge success!
