麻豆社区

Two heavy-hitting softball teams will represent the Yukon at the 2016 slo-pitch nationals in Whitehorse.

The rebranded Fountain Tire Titans knocked off the P&M鈥圧ecycled Sistas 29-11 Sunday afternoon to earn the women鈥檚 title, while the P&M鈥圧ecycling Guns took the men鈥檚 side.

After losing a much closer contest 21-18 to the Sistas in the morning, the Titans would not be denied in the rematch at the Pepsi Softball Centre.

By the second inning, the Titans had built up an 11-2 lead, chasing Sistas starting pitcher Caley Boulter in favour of reliever Janine Peters.

鈥淭hey were hitting the ball and we just weren鈥檛,鈥� a disappointed Peters said post-game. 鈥淭hey earned it with their hitting. Good luck to them. We鈥檒l be cheering on Team Yukon.鈥�

The Titans weekend roster included: Florence Kushniruk, Heather Mayes, Heidi Harry, Lisa Abel, Shari Wrixon, Sharmane Jones, Tanya Sage, Roni-Sue Steinhagen, Danielle Sawyer, Jamie Taylor, Leah McLeod, Karen Bevilacqua, Stacey Bowden, Shelly Clarke, Melanie Lachapelle and Naomi Smith.

Harry shone at the plate Sunday, scoring four runs in the rout.

鈥淲e wanted to make sure we were the team that went to nationals both times,鈥� said the Titans outfielder, who also expressed thanks to the team鈥檚 many coaches and sponsors.

鈥淲e took it today. Once we got on it, we just got rolling. It鈥檚 awesome, it鈥檚 perfect. It鈥檚 exactly what we wanted.鈥�

The Titans also beat the Nuway Ball Crushers twice over the weekend on the way to their second straight qualifier tournament win.

In May, the Titans 鈥� then known as the Mudders 鈥� earned the 2015 national nod with a two-game sweep of Nuway.

On Saturday, the club heads to the 2015 tournament in Dorchester, Ont., Aug. 11 to 15.

The final roster for that tournament includes Kushniruk, Mayes, Harry, Becky Svenningsen, Abel, Wrixon, Jones, Sage, Steinhagen, Sawyer, Jamie Taylor, McLeod, Bevilacqua, Val Boxall and Bowden.

鈥淭his is a big high before Ontario,鈥� said Titans pitcher Bevilacqua. 鈥淥ur bats are good and our baserunning is aggressive. We鈥檙e feeling really good.鈥�

Meanwhile, the Guns picked up where they left off from Dustball, mercying No Name, the Urban Realty Reds and Jat鈥檚 Landscaping before Sunday鈥檚 final.

There, they beat up on Dave鈥檚 Cleaning Crew by a score of 29-19.

Last weekend鈥檚 Guns roster included: Sheldon King, Jeff Frizzell, Troy Cairns, Matt Kremer, Aaron France, Brian White, Joe Vigneau, Mike Tuton, Scott Horsey, Chad Curlew, Bryden Cook, Mark King, Derek Kindervater and Shayne King with Craig Claggett and Mitch Malchow behind the bench.

鈥淭hese guys missed out on the chance to go Outside this year,鈥� said Malchow of the Guns. 鈥淪o they were fired up for this tournament.鈥�

White contributed two monster home runs in the final that helped power the Guns to victory.

鈥淚鈥坔aven鈥檛 seen a home run go that far in a long time,鈥� Malchow said. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure the first one went across the road.鈥�

White sloughed off the praise.

鈥淚t was a whole team effort,鈥� he said, noting it鈥檚 harder to hit singles than homers in slo-pitch.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a good feeling to contribute. I felt good all weekend and the guys behind me made some monster plays defensively.鈥�

He added it was great to see seven men鈥檚 teams competing for the 2016 host duties. Five teams competed in the women鈥檚 tournament.

Earlier this season, the Guns lost 19-8 to the Marlins at the 2015 national qualifying tournament.

The Marlins, now known as the Urban Realty Reds, will represent the territory at the 2015 nationals in Ontario Aug. 9 to 15.

That team consists of: Robin Smith, Kane Dawe, Dakota Organ, Gibson Pearson, Evan Campbell, Andrew Schmidt, Kaleb Dawe, Ryan McLaren, Ryan Lane, James Semaschuk, Ben McPherson and JJ鈥圙ainsforth.

Dan Jordan and Heather Jordan will serve as the team鈥檚 bench bosses.

Meanwhile, Saturday鈥檚 downpour did see some games rescheduled.

Softball Yukon executive director George Arcand said 100 bags of absorbent were spread over the fields at the Pepsi complex to help soak up the rain.