In the finals of the Whitehorse Men’s Fastball League last year, the Jays saw a one-run lead slip away in the final inning, causing a 10-9 loss to the Roadhouse Pirates.
In Tuesday’s season opener at the Pepsi Softball Centre, a rematch between the two teams saw the Jays hold a one-run lead on their way to a 6-5 win over the Roadhouse crew - now called the Roadhouse Giants.
“I think having Matt (King) back made a difference; he really shut it down for us,” said Jays’ outfielder/second baseman Jared Tuton, who pitched the last two innings for the Jays, ending the game with two strike outs and a easy out at first. “Their team found their bats, but then they had to face him.
“He’s the Ace - that’s why we call him the Ace.”
Down 3-1 in bottom of the third, the Giants eventually took the lead with Mike Tuton hitting a line drive to right field, putting in Jeff Frizzell from second, then coming home on a wild pitch. Jamie Cairns put the Giants ahead coming home on a delayed steal.
Tied 4-4 at the top of the sixth, the Jays bounced back in front with Danny Johnson putting in Arlo Oriordan on a grounder up the third baseline and then getting home on a blooper to right field from Jared Tuton.
“We had a couple defensive let-downs in later innings that ultimately did us in,” said Giants pitcher Mike Tuton. “Those cold bats in the seventh didn’t help either.
“It’s only the first game of the season,” added Mike. “If you look back to last year, we lost pretty handedly early on, but then we pretty much went undefeated the rest of the way.”
The Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a three-run homer from Mark King, making contact on the first pitch he saw in the season.
Pirates take off
in final inning
Tuesday’s second game was not quite the back-and-forth battle seen between the Jays and Giants. The Roadhouse Pirates started the season with a 20-5 win over the Cinderwood Hitmen.
Going into the final inning up 9-5, every player in the Pirates line-up produced a hit, scoring 11 runs.
The fastball league, which features four teams and plays two games each Tuesday evening, has no shortage of players, but is looking for umpires.
“Our organizing over the last month-and-a-half has been bang on, but the one thing we thought would come easy didn’t: finding umpires,” said Mike Tuton. “So we’re pulling guys off each team to do it, but we’re hoping that just for the short term.
“It’s the only thing hurting this league right now.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com