Normally, the teams of the Yk Fastball League duke it out against each other in the hopes of winning, just like they will this weekend at Tommy Forrest Ball Park in the NWT Men's Fastpitch Championship.
But they do come together once every so often, like they did for the Keith Broadhead Memorial Open Fastpitch Tournament in Hay River last weekend.
Under the Yellowknife Red Sox banner, players from across the league made the trip down Highway 3 and ended up coming home champions thanks to a 9-8 win over Clear Prairie, Alta., in the final. The win capped off a perfect weekend for the Red Sox as they went a perfect 5-for-5 in the win column.
Brad Waugh of the Optimum Crush Rockies helped put the team together and said it wasn't an easy five consecutive wins but the bats made sure things went the way they were supposed to.
“We had hot bats all weekend,” he said. “We also had great pitching. Jenn Lukas pitched a couple of really good games for us and Steve Thomas pitched a gem against Clear Prairie in the round-robin.”
With four wins out of four in the round-robin, the Red Sox got a bye straight to the final to await the winner of Clear Prairie and the Hay River Heat, which Clear Prairie won in a real pitcher's duel, 17-13.
“Either team would have been good for us in the final,” said Waugh. “We weren't really hoping for one over the other.”
At first, Clear Prairie came out the better of the two teams in the final as they touched up Thomas for four runs in the first inning to take an early 4-0 lead.
“They were obviously ready for us,” said Waugh. “They were just timing everything. We didn't do anything wrong or make errors, they were just finding the holes.”
The Red Sox got two runs back to make it 4-2 in the third inning and that's where Yellowknife started to pick things up though Clear Prairie wouldn't go without a fight. The game was tied at 8-8 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Andy Williams stepped up and delivered the eventual winning run on an inside-the-park home run.
“Andy hit a big one and we all thought it was gone,” said Waugh. “Their fielder hit the fence and the ball got away from him.”
That would be enough of a cushion for Thomas to shut down Clear Prairie in the top of the seventh inning and secure the win and the $2,000 winner's cheque that came with it.
Waugh said winning was great but the celebrations were tempered a bit after one of Clear Prairie's players had to be carted off at the end of the game.
“Their leadoff hitter came up and he's really fast,” he said. “He hit one and tried to dive head-first at first base but he ended up separating his shoulder. We all wondered if he knocked himself out and we didn't really celebrate hard after winning because we wanted to see if he was alright.”
So what did the team do with the $2,000? What every other team does when they travel to win in a tournament.
“It helped pay for the gas,” said Waugh.