It’s not always defence that wins championships.
The Carillon Sultans — led by their high-powered offence — captured the Manitoba Junior Baseball League title Monday night by dismantling the Elmwood Giants 13-3 in a winner-take-all Game 5 at A.D. Penner Park in Steinbach.
Things looked good for Elmwood early as they jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the opening frame with first baseman Josh Johnson drilling a three-run homer to right field. The lead vanished quickly, though, as Carillon responded with 12 runs in the next three innings — including six runs on six hits in the fourth.
Cassidy Dankochik / The Carillon
The Carillon Sultans celebrate the club’s MJBL championship triumph over the Elmwood Giants on Monday.
It’s the first time Carillon — the No. 1 seed with a 24-6 regular-season record — has worn the MJBL crown since 2012. The No. 2-seeded Giants (23-8) have now dropped back-to-back finals since their run of five straight championships (2018-22).
“It feels awesome. I can’t really explain how I’m feeling right now,” said Sultans right fielder Mason Hartung. “We’ve been playing ball together for years. There are guys on this team that I’ve been friends with since I was like six months old, so, we’re a very tight-knit group. We’ve been at it for years trying to get it done and we finally got it done now and that just feels amazing. “
Hartung, the team’s No. 9 hitter, put the game out of reach by blasting a grand slam over the right-field fence with two outs to make it a 12-3 score in the fourth. Hartung hadn’t hit a home run all year.
The 21-year-old finished with two hits and a walk.
“It’s been a bit of a rough season at the plate for me… There’s been times when I couldn’t hit a beach ball,” said Hartung.
“So, walking up to the plate there, I was just trying to make some good contact and maybe try and go the other way with the pitch. But I caught it on the good side of the ball, and it flew. There’s not many home runs hit here, ever. In all my years of ballplaying, that’s my only one here and I’m very, very happy I could do it tonight.”
While the bats stole the show, starting pitcher Cedric Lagasse certainly did his part. He rebounded from a rough first with five scoreless innings and five strikeouts.
“He’s been such an important piece to this team all year long,” said Carillon manager Rick Penner.
“We had a bit of a thin staff this year and he did whatever we asked of him. In the playoffs, he was there whenever we needed him. For him to come into a Game 5 like this, the pressure was on, and he rose to the occasion and didn’t flinch when that ball went out. He went right back about doing his business.”
Lagasse was named playoff MVP thanks to a 4-0 post-season record and 2.40 ERA.
“I never got down on myself. I got out of the inning, came back to the dugout, and they were all excited and like ‘There’s a lot of baseball left, we can do this.’ So, I trusted my team, I trusted everybody, and I just did my job,” said Lagasse, 19.
“It feels good (to be MVP) but it doesn’t feel as good as that trophy everyone’s touching.”
His brother, second baseman Luc Lagasse, also came up big with four RBI on three hits and a walk. Left fielder Ryan Powers contributed three hits and three RBI.
Cassidy Dankochik / The Carillon
The Carillon bench empties Monday as Mason Hartung crosses home plate on Brady Papineau’s sacrifice fly against the Elmwood Giants in game five of the MJBL final.
“When it was my first year playing 18U and (Luc’s) last year, we went to the finals and we lost, so we didn’t have that moment. But I’m glad with it being his last year this year that we can share this moment together,” said Lagasse.
The Sultans outhit the visitors 16-8.
Elmwood starter Riley Craw coughed up eight runs on 11 hits in three and one-third innings of work.
The Giants won 4-1 at Koskie Field on Sunday to force a fifth and final game.
“We used Riley to close (Sunday), so he didn’t have his A-plus stuff (tonight),” said Elmwood manager Ed Kulyk. “But this Carillon team can hit one through nine… Anybody in the lineup can barrel the ball and they showed it today with 16 hits.”
Carillon and Elmwood will head to the U22 Western Canadian Championship (Aug. 9-11) which take place in Winnipeg at Koskie Field.
“This team is capable of making some noise,” said Hartung. “We’re looking forward to Westerns.”
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Taylor Allen
Reporter
Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.
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