Coke wins second straight co-ed softball divisional title

A grand slam home run and consistent hitting helped Coke win its second straight C divisional title over Air Cargo Express Saturday in the Whitehorse Co-Ed Slo-Pitch League.

A grand slam home run and consistent hitting helped Coke win its second straight C divisional title over Air Cargo Express Saturday in the Whitehorse Co-Ed Slo-Pitch League.

With the exception of the first, Coke scored multiple runs in every inning and limited Air Cargo Express to just six runs in the contest. The final score was 18-6.

“We did actually really well today,“ said Meghan Stonehouse, Coke’s third baseman. “Air Cargo has been our downfall all season, we lost to them each time by one run, so it was really good to come back and win. It was a really good ending to a good season.“

This was a battle between two of the top teams in the C division. Both squads finished with 28 points. Air Cargo Express’s record was 13-3-2, while Coke concluded the season at 14-4-0.

With the score tied up at 1-1, Coke went to work in the bottom half of the second inning, driving in its second run of the game on a fly ball to centre field. A liner to centre and a walk would load up the bases for Coke, which had only one out in the inning.

Once again, Coke’s bats came through and a single into the outfield would score two runs to give the team a three run lead. Coke added one more run before the conclusion of the second inning to take a 5-1 advantage into the top of the third.

After limiting Air Cargo Express to just one run in the third, Coke had another big inning. The team drove in five runs, which started off with short stop Graeme Carruthers hitting a double into the outfield. Carruthers would later score on a walk and the team added four more runs on a combination of singles and doubles.

Air Cargo Express managed to get out of the inning with the bases loaded after a pop up to right field was caught for the third out.

Air Cargo Express added two more runs in the fourth, before Coke pitcher Bud Arnold registered the third out fielding a ground ball and then making a perfect throw to first base.

After Coke restored its eight run lead in the bottom of the fourth, the team went on to limit Air Cargo Express to just two runs in the fifth.

The game ended after Coke posted six runs in the fifth inning to increase its lead, which resulted in the 12 run mercy. Highlights in the inning included Sam Oettli hitting a grand slam over the right field wall, which drove in the team’s final four runs.

With six players under the age of 18, Coke is one of the younger teams in the Co-ed league. The core of the team has been together for three years.

Stonehouse said Air Cargo Express always gives them a good game.

“We came against Air Cargo last year too, so it’s a really good team to come up against in the finals because we are so well matched,“ she said. “It’s fun to play them, they are really good people. They don’t get upset when they are down or anything, they try and fight back, so it’s good.“

She said this was probably the team’s best game of the season.

“Our bats were working today, compared to the last time we came up against them, which was good,“ Stonehouse said. “The timely hits and the grand slam at the end there was amazing.“

Stonehouse said it was a lot of fun playing in the league this season.

“It was just a really good year, we had fun together,“ she said. “We try to have fun, that’s our main goal.“

Other divisional winners included Earls “Guys and Girls” defeating Tlingit Electric by a convincing 16-8 score.

The Guys and Girls were a lot better team than their 5-10-2 record let on and defeated Tlingit Electric earlier in the playoffs by a score of 11-6. Nine of Earls 10 regular season losses came as a result of the team having to forfeit because of lack of players.

Despite the loss, Tlingit Electric had an outstanding year in the A Division, amassing 14 wins, two losses and two ties, in the regular season, to finish in sole possession of first place with 30 points.

It was a battle between the two top teams in the B division. When all was said and done Roadhouse got the close 20-17 victory over Kal-Tire.

Roadhouse finished with a record of 17-4-1, while Kal-Tire went into the playoffs at 17-3-1.

In the most thrilling game of the playoffs, Coyote Video overcame an 11 run deficit to beat Bounty Hunters by the score of 15-14.

Bounty Hunters were the Cinderella Story of the tournament, making the final after finishing in last place in the D division with a record of 3-18-1.

Coyote Video placed third in the D division at 13-8-0.