The local Merritt mixed slo-pitch league wrapped up its season on the weekend with its annual championship tournament at Central Park. A total of 14 teams took part in the two-day competition.
When the dust had settled on a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon, it was the Detox team that emerged on top, taking the ‘A’ division title with a hard-fought 16-14 victory over Scared Hitless in the final game.
Detox was a team on a mission in the championship contest. They got the sticks going early, scoring 11 runs in the first three innings, and then used solid defence and great pitching from Aaron Hourie to hold off a tough opponent that wasn’t going down without a fight.
“We played well — smart ball,” said Detox spokesperson Brandon Colwell.
Favorites going into the weekend tournament — the result of a perfect 16-0 regular season — Detox had to bounce back from three consecutive losses in round robin play on Saturday to win it all when it counted the next day.
“It’s funny,” Colwell said. “This team has a history of either playing well on Saturday and collapsing Sunday, or doing it the other way around.
It’s happened several times in the 10 years I’ve been with the team.”
Detox got the good times rolling Sunday morning in one of two semi-final games. They defeated KAOS, last year’s champions, 14-11 to punch their ticket into the championship game. Meanwhile Scared Hitless was taking down the Rebels in the ‘A’ division’s other semi-final game.
