Altona hurler loves the pressure

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This article was published 07/08/2020 (2126 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jayden Gerbrandt craves having the ball in his hand in crucial situations.

The Altona right-hander gets his wish Sunday afternoon as the Bisons look to lock up first place in the eight-team Manitoba Junior Baseball League and a bye in the opening round of the post-season.

The Bisons and Elmwood Giants collide at 2 p.m. at Koskie Field in Winnipeg. The teams enter the final game of the regular season with identical 15-5 records.

Gerbrandt, who posted a 3-1 mark with a 2.24 earned-run average in four starts this summer, is pumped to face the two-time defending league champions.

“I love being under pressure. I feel like I can perform better with something on the line,” said the 19-year-old, who works in the construction business. “I’ve been pitching since I was about five years old and that’s what I love doing.”

On Thursday, the St. Boniface Legionaires informed the league the team is withdrawing from the playoffs due to a shortage of players — U.S. college players have been called back by their schools — creating a bye situation for the regular-season leader.

Pembina Valley (14-6) faces the Carillon Sultans (8-12) Sunday, and a win combined with an Elmwood defeat to Altona would propel the Orioles into second spot and drop the Giants to third.

Altona is blessed with half a dozen quality arms, meaning Gerbrandt hasn’t been overburdened during a sensational campaign for the southeastern Manitoba club. But when called upon, he’s been exceedingly tidy on the hill.

Gerbrandt has 37 strikeouts in just 25 innings, while rarely surrendering free passes. He’s issued only three walks, the lowest among pitchers with at least 20 innings of work.

Last Sunday, he was masterful in a 3-2 extra-inning triumph over the Interlake Blue Jays, fanning 16 batters while walking none and yielding just six hits over the eight innings.

“Accuracy has always been one of my strengths… my control. I don’t throw as hard as some people but if the location’s there then it works,” he said. “I actually have a pretty good arsenal of pitches. I usually throw a fastball, curveball, changeup, slider and cutter, so mixing up all those pitches up and not throwing anything too hittable.”

He struggled in his first outing, giving up five runs to Elmwood in the first inning of a July 1 matchup and another pair in the fourth, but has let just two runners cross home plate in 21 innings since.

Bisons manager Curt Letkeman is confident he’s chosen the right man for the significant job.

“He had one bad inning all year. He’s been lights out,” he said. “He and our catcher (Isaiah Letkeman) have played together since peewee ball, so they know each other really well and are in good sync. Jayden’s got a lot of movement on his pitches and he’s a competitor. He’s pitched in a lot of big games. He wants the ball in big situations.

“Nothing seems to faze him and he just rises to the occasion.”

The Giants are 7-2 on their home diamond but the Bisons feels no jitters playing away from the friendly confines of beautiful Access Field, registering an 8-1 record on the road.

Elmwood stayed in the hunt for top spot after beating the St. James A’s 2-1 in an extra inning Wednesday night.

Giants’ right-fielder Justin Scott hit a one-out double and then stole third base, prompting the A’s to intentionally walk the next two hitters to load the bases with the MJBL’s top run producer, Riley Treger, due up. The move backfired as Treger launched a long sacrifice fly to score Scott.

Treger has 19 hits in 53 at-bats and has driven in 21 runs.

Elmwood manager Ed Kulyk hasn’t made a final decision on his starter Sunday but hinted the club might turn to rightie Dawson Tanner. Workhorse hurler Brent Racette, also a right-hander, would seem to be the logical choice, with a league-best seven wins against just two defeats and a pair of saves, however, he threw last Sunday and again Wednesday.

The Bisons have shown steady improvement since the start of a rebuild that coincided with the appointment of Letkeman as manager in 2018. The club won its last MJBL title in 2015 but posted three straight sub-.500 seasons — including a 5-19 record in 2018 — before turning a corner (13-10) a year ago.

“It’s a young group and they really get along, even though they come from different communities. They’ve all played against each for many years, so there’s a respect there and now they’re enjoying working together on the same team,” said Letkeman. “It’s been a really, really good year for us. Just a few months ago, we weren’t sure we’d even have a season.”

St. James (10-9), Interlake (9-11), St. Boniface (4-14) and the Winnipeg South (3-15) round out the MJBL standings, heading into the last weekend before the playoffs.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell