Once again this year, the Coors Mixed Slo-Pitch Tournament in Hay River proved to be a big draw for teams from the NWT and northern Alberta.
That appeal was explained by Cody Chalifoux of The Northern Tribe, which is made up of players from High Level, Alta., and area.
"This tournament is always one of our favourites of the season," Chalifoux said. "We enjoy the camping, the people and the ball. We plan on attending the tournament for many years to come. It's always on our calendars. Big thanks to the hosts for having us again."
The Northern Tribe won the tournament for the second year in a row.
The team is made up of players from High Level, Paddle Prairie, Fort Vermilion and John D'Oor Prairie.
John Hill, one of several organizers for the tournament, said 15 teams showed up for the tournament, held over the Civic Day long weekend from Aug. 3 to Aug. 6.
Eight teams were from Hay River and seven came from out of town, including Fort Resolution, Fort Smith, Yellowknife, Fort Simpson and northern Alberta.
"It's one of the tournaments that I think a lot of people look forward to every year, as we do as an organization," said Hill, referring to the host Hay River Slo-Pitch League. "We like to put on a good show and have teams come from out of town."
The organizer feels that the tournament, which has been running for over 25 years, was once again a success this year.
While The Northern Tribe took first place, a team from Fort Smith claimed second, the Diggerz Big Hitterz of Hay River came in third and a team from Peace River, Alta., placed fourth.
"We don't put these tournaments together for ourselves to win," said Hill. "We hope to play a few games and let the out-of-town teams come in and enjoy themselves and enjoy Hay River and play some baseball."
The first place team won $3,500 and hoodies, the runners-up collected $2,000 and T-shirts, and the teams in third and fourth place received $800 and either hats or shirts.
Sixteen teams were originally expected for the tournament, but a team from Alberta did not show up.
"We found out Friday night (Aug. 3) that the one team wasn't coming, so it kind of threw things for a loop a bit when you're scrambling and you think you have things organized and the pools set in place, and then you've got to move things around," said Hill. "That complicates things a little bit, but you do the best you can under those circumstances."
Last year, there were 18 teams at the tournament.
Hill said everything went well for this year's tournament, and even the weather co-operated except for a little drizzle on the morning of the event's last day.
"We had quite a few fans out there cheering on everybody and supporting the local groups," he added.
Hill especially expressed thanks to the volunteers who helped with this year's Coors Mixed Slo-Pitch Tournament.
"It takes many hands to make light work," he said. "It couldn't be done without the volunteers and we're glad to have people that stepped up to the plate and helped out."