Minnesota to meet LWSRA or Columbus in USA Wheelchair Softball World Series Championship Division final
The Courage Kenny Minnesota Rolling Twins are continuing their tradition — every other year it seems they reach the USA Wheelchair Softball World Series final.
And in each of the last two even-numbered years, they’ve won the title. Now, they’ve got a chance to do it again in an even-numbered year.
After allowing two runs in the first three innings, Rolling Twins pitcher Jayson Gorton settled down, and his pitching and the Minnesota defense helped lift the No. 3 seed to a 5-2 Championship Bracket semifinal victory over the No. 5-seeded Columbus Rec & Park Pioneers on Friday afternoon at First Interstate Sportsplex in Valley, Neb. They reached Saturday’s final and will find out who they play Saturday morning.
“It means a lot. It’s definitely weird. It’s like every other year it seems like. So, it’d be nice to kind of have like a little dynasty go, but …,” says the 27-year-old Gorton.
A Delano, Minn., resident, Gorton only allowed only two hits (two singles to Columbus’ Joe Wittkamp) and a walk to the Pioneers’ Cole Anders, over the final four innings. Minnesota’s defense provided a couple of key plays, too, including a double-play in the top of the fourth inning and a throwout at third base as the final out in the top of the seventh inning to close the game.
Erik Mossberg provided some key offense with an RBI double in the bottom of the third inning to give the Rolling Twins a 3-2 lead, and they added a run off an error in the bottom of the fifth inning and pinch-hitter Kurt Greniger provided some extra insurance with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the sixth inning for their 5-2 advantage.
One of the team’s two main pitchers along with Jeff Yackley, Gorton sustained a level T3/T4 spinal cord injury (SCI) when he was just 3 years old as a passenger in a car accident during a snowstorm. He’s played wheelchair softball since he was 5 years old.
After the team’s second slow start in their last three games, Gorton says team captain Brendan Downes and other players made sure to settle the team down with some encouraging words.
“Like, if we’re going down, it’s just words that need to be said, you know? Just get us together. Because if nobody’s saying anything, it’s kind of like gonna linger in your head, you know?” Gorton says.
Wittkamp, who pitched for Columbus, went 3-for-3 at the plate, hitting an RBI single in the first inning. But the Pioneers aren’t out of it just yet. Columbus will play the No. 2-seeded Lincolnway Special Recreation Association (LWSRA) Hawks to reach the Championship Bracket title game. LWSRA defeated the defending champ and No. 1 seed Nebraska Barons, 8-5, in a late Friday afternoon Championship Bracket consolation game.
LWSRA’s Jimmy Jackson had a double and recorded some key RBIs to propel the Hawks for a chance to reach the Championship Bracket final for the second straight year.
A Navy veteran and Paralyzed Veterans of America Vaughan Chapter member, the 55-year-old Jackson sustained a T12 incomplete SCI in a 1990 car accident in Washington. He started playing wheelchair softball in 1996 — making this his 30th year.
He and the Hawks were thrilled with the upset and chance to keep playing.
“Just hitting came in when we needed it. I was able to knock off a double there to get some runs in and take the lead, and it’s a great game,” says Jackson, a Bartlett, Ill., resident. “Tomorrow, we’ve just got to keep hitting, solid defense, and we could go all the way.”
Heavy rain delayed Friday’s games by two hours, and games were stopped twice.
Meanwhile, the No. 9-seeded Chicago Wheelchair Cubs will meet the No. 8-seeded Deep South Hurricanes for the Division II championship at 10 a.m. Saturday. Chicago won two games Friday — defeating the No. 14-seeded New York Wheelchair Yankees,12-3, and the No. 16-seeded National Wheelcats, 12-2, to reach the final, while Deep South knocked off the No. 12-seeded Wheelchair Giants, 4-3, and the No. 13-seeded Bee Abled Colt .45s, 12-2.
And those Wheelchair Giants will face the No. 6-seeded Ability360 Arizona Diamondbacks in the Division III final at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.