The Chilkoot Brewers might be seventh in the regular season standings, but they are a force to be reckoned with in tournament play.
The Division 2 team put aside their less than stellar 2-4 league record to go undefeated at the first installment of the Whitehorse Co-Ed Slo-Pitch League’s Opening Tournament. (Divisions 1, 3 and 5 will compete next Friday and Saturday.)
The beer crew took the Division 2 title with a 17-11 win over Dave’s Cleaning on Saturday at the Pepsi Softball Centre after going down 6-0 by the bottom of the third inning.
“We weren’t hitting that well and all of sudden we were,” said Brewers team rep Michelle Matheson. “It was too quiet, but then everyone got in it and started screaming – we woke up.”
Dave’s moved to a five-run lead in the third on a two-run homer by Jimmy Semaschuk to right field. However, the Brewers got back into the game, taking the lead in the fourth thanks in part to two runs coming in on a grounder by Dan King followed by a two-run shot by Scott Horsey.
The Brewers went undefeated in the tournament, defeating Dave’s 10-6 earlier in the day, scoring three runs in the final inning to secure the win.
“We were on our fourth game today and we actually played them and lost to them early in the morning,” said Dave’s pitcher Sean “Happy” Munro. “We were really excited to make it to the finals, but we didn’t have the spark and the gas they did.”
Dave’s Cleaning began the season with two losses, but have won their last four regular season games, moving them into third place with a 4-2 record. Their only losses of the tournament came against the Brewers.
Big fifth inning gives High Calibre title
The Division 4 final of the Opening Tournament was not determined so much by consistency in play, but one massive at-bat for the champion team.
The High Calibre Contracting took the title with a 15-10 win over Coyote Video, going undefeated at the tournament.
Down 8-5 to start the fifth inning, High Cailbre put in 10 runs – hitting the mercy rule cutoff – all inside the park.
“It’s been that way all day, where we have one inning – we’ve done that to every team,” said High Calibre coach Dan Jordan. “I don’t know what causes it, but once we get on base we’re dangerous because we’re fast.”
Getting the scoring spree started was Robin Smith, hitting a triple with two runners on base.
“That seemed to get it going,” said Jordan.
“They were hitting well,” said Coyote Video captain Elliot Kaminecki. “It’s Division 4 ball – it’s not the cleanest ball out there. There were a few errors, but they were hitting well.”
Tied with 4-2 regular season records, High Calibre and Coyote Video are tied for first place in the Division 4 regular season play.
“We’ll be fighting for supremacy with these guys for most of the year,” said Kaminecki.
“Hopefully we’ll get them on Tuesday – we play them on Tuesday.”
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com