Scott Radley: Miracle Cards hunting for another huge upset
When his team won the first two games of its best-of-five playoff series against one of the league's stacked squads, he didn't let himself think too far ahead. A few nights later when a bases-loaded triple tied things up for his side late in the fifth-and-deciding game, he didn't let himself get too excited.
He didn't even let himself get overly amped when his team put two runners on base in the first extra inning and was staring at a chance to win.
I just wasn't trying to get my hopes up," says infielder Laine Renaud. Because I wasn't wanting to be let down."
So coming into this series, he didn't think his side would win?
Not a chance."
Being a Hamilton Cardinal isn't always easy.
The Intercounty Baseball League team has won a few first-round playoff series over the past few years. But a second-round victory remains elusive. And a title? Uh, no.
In the season before COVID, things appeared to be heading in a really positive direction. But 2021 saw them return to their more common home near the bottom of the standings in the eight-team Ontario league. And this year was a full-on soap opera.
They finished in second-last place. The manager was replaced midway through the summer. A number of players decided to bolt before the schedule was done.
It's definitely been a rough couple years," says Renaud, who's a local guy and the longest-serving member of the team. A rough season, for sure."
So there wasn't much reason to give this group even a Buster Douglas chance against Guelph in their first-round playoff series. Not when the Royals had finished second overall, had record-setting pitching this season, and had one of the league's all-time greatest players and a former Toronto Blue Jay on the roster.
Yes, a Blue Jay. Dalton Pompey. As in, a guy who was on the field in the Jose Bautista Bat Flip Game. He was playing for Guelph.
To top it off, after finding a way to grab the first two games with some incredible play, the Cardinals were massacred in the next two outings. Giving up 34 runs - losses of 16-8 and 18-3 - didn't exactly inspire confidence for Game 5. Heck, before that game even started, Renaud heard the Royals were selling tickets to the next round.
And when Hamilton fell behind 4-0 early, another sad ending appeared to be looming.
Oh, and in case all that wasn't enough, Hamilton's pitching staff was being shredded by a bad bout of food poisoning.
We had guys throwing one inning and having to run off the field," manager Jeff Lounsbury says.
Rather urgently, in some cases. The one guy who was able to remain out of the loo and on the mound was sweating profusely as result of the illness.
Somehow though, the Cardinals dug in. The pitching held. The hitters tied it in the seventh on a bases-loaded triple and then went ahead in the 10th inning on a two-run triple. Then fortuitously held on in the bottom of the inning - We had one arm left," Lounsbury says of his bullpen - to take the game and the series.
Renaud doesn't mind saying he was surprised. Shocked is actually the word he uses. The clubhouse was euphoric. Everybody was jacked. This kind of massive upset doesn't happen. Not to the Cardinals. Not lately.
Actually, not to anyone.
This is probably one of the top three upsets in the IBL that I can ever remember," Lounsbury says. Maybe the biggest."
Of course, things don't get easier now. A tired Hamilton side lost the opener of its second-round series 12-1 to the first-place and defending champion London Majors. Game 2 was scheduled for Tuesday night.
Game 3 is Wednesday night at Bernie Arbour Stadium (7:30 p.m. first pitch). The team that struggles to draw fans really should see some in the stands.
Could there be another upset? Could Hamilton keep the magic rolling and figure out a way to advance to the final for the first time since 2001? Maybe win it all for the first time since 1978?
That's why you play the games," Lounsbury says.
Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com