There is once again a new champion in the Yk Fastball League and it's one of the old guard back on top.
The Home Building Centre Cardinals are your 2018 champions as they won the league's playoff tournament on Sunday at Tommy Forrest Ball Park thanks to a comeback 10-9 win over the Slades Expos in the final. Darin Strain had the game-winning hit as his sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning scored Garrett Hinchey from third base, capping off a wild two innings that saw the Cardinals fight back from a five-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Expos pitcher Devin Penney had managed to hold the Cardinals at bay for most of the game while his batting order came through with plenty of support, peppering Hinchey for much of the game. With the Cardinals down to their last bats at the bottom of the seventh and trailing 9-4, the rally was begun by Chris Cahoon, who hit a two-out single to score two runs and knot the game at 9-9.
That meant bonus softball as the game went into extra innings. Hinchey was able to shut down the Expos in the top half to give his team a chance in the bottom.
“That was probably the best inning I pitched all game,” he said. “I'm just happy it came at the right time.”
Hinchey led off the bottom of the inning by getting on base followed by Brian Couvrette and Ryan Nichols. With no outs, Bruce Waugh stepped up and hit a rocket but he lined out to second base for the first out. Strain then stepped up and hit a long enough fly ball deep enough to score Hinchey from third base and get the win.
Mike Auge of the Cardinals said it's nice to be back on top of the mountain but he didn't expect to do it against the Expos.
“It's been three years since we've won this and I didn't think we'd beat Slades,” he said. “I knew the road would go through the (Fire Prevention) Blue Jays and it was funny to have the top three teams in the league from the regular season battle it out in the quarter-finals.”
The Blue Jays came in as the defending champions but they were defeated by the Cardinals in the semifinals by the Cardinals, 5-2. The Optimum Crush Rockies, the 2016 league champions, also had chance to get back to their third consecutive league championship final but fell to the Expos, 11-3 in the other semifinal.
Auge said having so many competitive teams in the last three years means there's more parity in the league.
“Almost every team has been to a final of some kind over the last three years,” he said. “That means it's competitive and that's good for the league.”
And so brings an end to one of the wackiest seasons in memory thanks to the rain. Nearly every regular-season game was washed out in the month of June, which meant plenty of make-up games in July and August. It even affected the NWT Men's Fastpitch Championship, which was reduced to a single-elimination tournament on the final day.
Hinchey, who also serves as the league's president, said he's happy it all got in.
“All of the guys who have been around said they has never seen a season like it,” he said. “The weather issues meant we had a late start and I'm hoping it's just an anomaly and not the new normal. The tournament was probably the best ball we had all season. Slades was a surprise finalist but this was their best line-up all season and they're one of the best-hitting teams out there when they're all together. I'm just relieved that it's over and I'm ready for a break.”