Conditions were cool and wet but the Rowdies’ bats were on fire during the weekend at the Williams Lake Slo-Pitch League Icebreaker Tournament.
The Rowdies defeated the Rookies, 16-7, Sunday in the ‘A’ division final under heavy rainfall and on a soggy infield at the Esler Sports Complex to win the championship.
The team went unbeaten in the tournament getting past the Toyota Tailgaters in the quarterfinal and the Rookies in the semifinal en route to the final.
The Rookies, meanwhile, played a thriller on the bottom half of the draw in the other semifinal to squeak past the Toyota Tailgaters, 8-6, in extra innings.
Rookies’ player Aaron Frank Myers, who his teammates refer to as ‘Bubz,’ launched a two-run, walk-off bomb into right field to help put his team in the final.
There, however, the Rowdies bats proved too strong as they jumped out to a 10-1 lead by the fourth inning.
The Rookies scored two in the fifth and two in the sixth, but the Rowdies answered with two runs of their own in the sixth inning, and another four in the seventh.
Leading the way for the Rowdies were David Johnny, Derek Rogers, Vanessa Bremner, Lesley Allgrove and Rob Yaworski.
In the ‘B’ division the Cowboys and NDNZ edged the Brew Jays, 10-9, putting a halt to the Brew Jays’ undefeated streak in the championship after playing through the bottom half of the draw.
In the ‘C’ division the Vigilantes hammered Sticks and Stones, 22-8, for the title.
And Hit ‘N’ Run, in the ‘D’ division, took a two-run 14-12 victory over Sons of Pitches in the final.
In total, 28 teams competed in the tournament.
“All first-place teams won bats, second-place teams won a half dozen balls,” said WLSPL president and Rowdies captain Linda Barbondy. “Thanks to all the teams that played.
“A big thanks to Bruce Ivens and the Sons of Pitches team for taking care of the recycling, the teams that did the lines and picked up garbage, Cowboys and NDNZ, the Rookies and Rowdies for all the helping with keeping our park amazing.”
The next WLSPL tournament at the Esler Sports Complex is the Overlander Pub Field Fundraiser coming up June 17-19.
Barbondy said 16 teams will be allowed to enter and several spots are already taken, so teams are advised to sign up early.