麻豆社区

It was a barn burner on Sunday as the P & M Recycling Guns of Whitehorse defended their Dustball title as champions of the men鈥檚 A Division.

The Guns defeated Skagway鈥檚 Chico鈥檚 Bail Bonds 32-31 with a walk-off single by Craig Claggett.

鈥淚t was probably the best A game final that park has seen for a long time,鈥� Guns first baseman Mike Tuton said in an interview.

The Brewers of Whitehorse finished third in the men鈥檚 A.

Whitehorse鈥檚 Klondike Rib and Salmon RBIs defended their women鈥檚 A Division title by downing the AFD Titans of Whitehorse 24-12 while the RRR from Fort McPherson finished in third.

The Great West Grizzlies of Whitehorse won the co-ed A Division by defeating the local Jays 21-19 while BLC Knights of Whitehorse finished in third.

Sixty-five teams in 10 divisions battled it out on Whitehorse ball diamonds over the weekend in the annual Dustball Invitational Slo-Pitch Tournament.

Teams came from Beaver Creek, Dawson City, Carmacks, Mayo, Fort McPherson, Haines, Juneau and Skagway.

Tuton said the new rule change this year was instrumental in making the men鈥檚 A final a nail biter. In previous years, teams could only score five runs in an inning. This year, teams who were behind could score as many as they needed to tie the game and go up by five. So when the Guns went up by 12 in the early innings, Chico鈥檚 was allowed to get them all back in one inning 鈥� and they did.

The Guns earned home field advantage and last bats by going through the round robin undefeated.

Tuton said heading in the top of the seventh in the final, the Guns pulled a defensive shift by going with three outfielders instead of the traditional four, in favour of another infielder, and it paid off.

Heading into the bottom of the final inning tied at 31-31, Guns Scott Horsey led off with a single followed by a single from Tuton to put Horsey on second and in scoring position.

Claggett drilled a rope between short stop and second base and Horsey took advantage to score the winning run.

鈥淚t was a battle,鈥� Tuton said. 鈥淲e were close to mercying them in the early innings and they came back and put up 12 on us.

鈥淗at off to Chico鈥檚, they can hit the ball, and we knew that.鈥�

It was a game of singles and doubles, as the Guns only hit three home runs in the championship match.

鈥淯ltimately, having the last bats was huge for us,鈥� said Tuton.

He said even fans in the stands were saying the Guns were getting long in the tooth, and that this would be the year they鈥檇 be knocked off the throne.

But they don鈥檛 know what winning one of the largest sporting events in the Yukon means to the Guns, he said.

鈥淒ustball is our tournament.鈥�

Finals for all 10 divisions took place on Sunday. The full list of other results are as follows:

Co-ed B

1st 鈥� HUB International (Whitehorse)
2nd 鈥� Jim Shockey Predators (Whitehorse)
3rd 鈥� Whitehorse Massage Therapy Tenderizers (Whitehorse)

Co-ed C

1st 鈥� Nagota (Whitehorse)
2nd 鈥� Floor by Floor Rugburns (Whitehorse)
3rd 鈥� Westcoast Warriors (Whitehorse)

Co-ed D

1st 鈥� Yukon Tire Mechanical Happy鈥檚 Hobos (Whitehorse)
2nd 鈥� Cardinal Contracting Cardinals (Whitehorse)
3rd 鈥� FHP Ballwhackers (Whitehorse)

Men鈥檚 B

1st 鈥� Fountain Tire Mudders (Whitehorse)
2nd 鈥� Rounders (Juneau)
3rd 鈥� River Rats (Whitehorse)

Men鈥檚 C

1st 鈥� Kaska Bears (Whitehorse)
2nd 鈥� Mayo Volunteer Fire Department (Mayo)
3rd 鈥� Wolverines (Whitehorse)

Women鈥檚 B

1st 鈥� Booster Juice (Whitehorse)
2nd 鈥� Skagway Ladies Rock (Skagway)
3rd 鈥� G & R Diamond Diva鈥檚 (Whitehorse)

Women鈥檚 C

1st 鈥� Frontier Gifts (Juneau)
2nd 鈥� Triple J鈥檚 Cougars (Whitehorse)
3rd 鈥� Dave鈥檚 Cleaning Crew (Whitehorse)