麻豆社区

The annual July 4 Skagway International Softball Tournament is always circled on the calendar of Whitehorse softball players and this year was no exception.

Six Whitehorse teams traveled south to take part in the nine-team, three-day tournament.

The Sunday final pitted two Whitehorse teams against each other, with the Chiefs facing the Trappers.

The Chiefs roster was made up predominately with players from the BLC Group Knights roster, who are currently in second place in the 鈥楢' division of the Whitehorse slo-pitch league.

The Skagway tournament attracts many players from the local league, giving them a chance to compete on the Outside and in a different atmosphere.

"We always get a lot of Canadians,鈥� said Cindy O'Daniel, who has been organizing the tournament for the past 15 years.

"It falls on the Canada Day weekend so a lot of people like to come down and spend the long weekend camping and playing ball.鈥�

Three other teams joined the Whitehorse clubs in the tournament, two from Skagway and one from Juneau.

O'Daniel said numbers were down a bit this year but the tournament was still "a lot of fun for everybody.鈥�

"Everyone seemed to have a good time and the competition was really good,鈥� she said.

The Chiefs found themselves facing a six-run deficit in the final inning, trailing the Trappers 14-9.

With the momentum going against them, the bats suddenly woke up for the Chiefs.

They were able to rally off six straight runs to win the game, and the tournament, 15-14.

It was a family affair for the Chief's Ryan Gleason, who had three cousins competing alongside him and one of them, Michelle, was able to knock in the winning run.

"It was an exciting final, it's a really good tournament,鈥� said Gleason.

"The Trappers are a good team but we were just able to come from behind and get six in the final inning.鈥�

It was the third year in a row the Chiefs had competed in the tournament, where they were knocked out in round robin play last year.

"They looked really good this year,鈥� said O'Daniel of the winning team.

"They've been coming off and on for the last several years but this was the first time

I've seen them make it to the finals and they looked pretty good.鈥�

The Chiefs found their stride early on in the tournament and didn't drop a game throughout the weekend. They finished with a 9-0 record.

By the time the action wrapped up on Sunday, the team was feeling the effects of playing nine games in less than 72 hours.

"We were all pretty pooped,鈥� said Gleason. "But it was a good time.鈥�

Gleason said the team tries to make it to three or four outside tournaments a year to

play different levels of competition.

They're hoping the momentum will carry over to the local league as they make a push in the second half of the season to take over the top seed in the 鈥楢' division.

They currently trail Climate Clothing for first place, who have a record of 9-1-1. The Knights aren't far behind with a record of 6-4-1.

The tournament wrapped up with clear skies on Sunday but the teams were forced to play through showers most of Saturday.

"I don't even want to talk about the weather,鈥� laughed O'Daniel.

"It rained on us pretty good on Saturday morning and the wind made it a little chilly but it could have been a lot worse.鈥�

Whitehorse teams will be looking to keep up their winning ways when Skagway hosts the men's softball tournament on the weekend of July 20th.

Local league play is now shut down at the Pepsi Softball Centre as the city prepares to host the International Softball Federation's Women's World Fastpitch Championships from July 13 to 22.

Sixteen teams will take part in the nine-day tournament that will feature some of the top female softball players in the world.

Tickets for the tournament can be purchased at Sport Yukon.