Last year, the Fire Prevention Blue Jays were the new kids on the fastpitch block and were the hunters.
This year, they were the hunted and avoided being caught.
The Blue Jays are winners and still NWT Men's Fastpitch Championship title holders after defeating the Hay River Heat by a score of 7-1 in the final on Sunday. They ended up winning a single-elimination playoff round after rain washed out the entire round-robin on July 13 and 14.
Steve Thomas pitched the Blue Jays to victory on Sunday and said no matter the format, every game was always an important one.
"We had eight teams in two divisions vying for four spots (in the round-robin format) and you had to win at least two games to get into the playoffs," he said. "In that or the elimination format, you can't afford to take a game off so every game in a tournament is an elimination game."
The Blue Jays did get in a round-robin game on the tournament's opening night on July 12, which saw them beat the Optimum Crush Rockies but that was it until Sunday. Two straight days of non-stop rain saw the field at Tommy Forrest Ball Park rendered unplayable and forced the hand of organizers to come up with a plan to salvage the tournament.
All eight teams agreed to a single-elimination playoff on Sunday and even that was up in the air as the rain came back on Sunday morning. Thankfully for the organizers, it wasn't so serious that games couldn't be played.
The Blue Jays started off the playoff round with a 5-0 win over the Home Building Centre Cardinals, one of the prohibitive favourites in any tournament, and Thomas said beating a team of that calibre is always a plus.
"They're always a threat, no matter what," he said. "I pitched a good game and the defence came through when it had to and we had some timely hits."
Next up was a 5-1 win over the Cold Cash Orioles, which put the Blue Jays into the final against Hay River, who beat the Matonabee Petroleum Trappers, 12-6, in the other semifinal.
Hay River came into the final immediately after their win while the Blue Jays watched Hay River win, something Thomas said could have worked one of two ways for them.
"The team that's already warm could come out the better team but there's also an advantage to getting 90 minutes rest," he said. "Some players get to relax and rest. It all depends on what players need at the time."
The final was a pitcher's duel in the early going as Thomas and his opposite number, Lyndon Daniels of Hay River, shut down each other's battery for the first couple of innings. The Blue Jays opened things up in the bottom of the third with four runs off of Daniels and tacked on insurance runs in the later innings to secure victory and back-to-back titles.
"Hay River is a good-hitting ball club," said Thomas. "They're crafty and they know how to win and beating them is tough to do."
The win for the Blue Jays will no doubt be a confidence boost as they head into the second half of the Yk Fastball League season. They have another title to defend, that being the league championship itself, and that comes up in August.
"We have a few new guys on our team that haven't played fastpitch before," said Thomas. "They're getting the chance to learn how to win and get better."