Three Haida Gwaii teams lit up the scoreboard at the Riverboat Days Mixed Slo-Pitch Tournament over the August long weekend, and all three left their mark in the standings.
The SOP’s opened Friday, Aug. 1 with a 30-23 win over the Dugout Demons, a slugfest that kept the bats busy and the scorekeepers busier. The Grinders followed with a 15-0 shutout over The Beers.
Saturday was mixed for the SOP’s, who dropped their morning games before pulling out an extra-innings win over the Arrows. Their weekend ended later that night with a loss to the Spartans.
SOP’s player Damon Reece said the team’s weekend showed steady improvement over their three years competing in Terrace.
“We played hard against some really tough teams,” Reece said. “Had a good run over there, given it’s only our third year playing in Terrace. Each year we get a little better. First year only making it to the consolation bracket, second year moving to the main bracket and year three moving up a couple seeds.”
The Cousins also made a strong showing, playing through Saturday before meeting the Grinders in Sunday night’s knockout round. The Grinders advanced, adding to earlier wins that included a 15-8 victory over Westpoint and a 13-0 shutout of the Rebels.
Sunday saw the Grinders open with a 10-1 win over the Big Dogs, then the win over the Cousins. A narrow 17-16 loss to the Amigos was followed by a 10-8 win against the Hitmen to secure a spot in the final.
The championship game was a rematch with the Amigos, who prevailed 5-1. Grinders player Damon Fladmark said the team gave all they had.
“Yeah we just ran out of gas I think,” Fladmark said. “The heat always gets to us in that tournament.”
When the weekend wrapped, the Grinders had silver, the SOP’s and Cousins had strong showings, and Haida Gwaii’s bats had made themselves heard in Terrace.
