The Braves let their bats and gloves do the talking on the weekend, as they went a perfect 7-0 to claim first-place at the 6th Annual Aces Memorial Slo-Pitch Tournament on the weekend.
A total of 10 teams took part in the two-day event held at the Central Park ballfields in honour of the late Luke Saul and Raymond Saul Jr.
Saturday, the Braves won all three of their round-robin games by a combined score of 48-30. Their toughest test was a narrow 21-20 victory over the Zodiaks.
On Sunday, the second-ranked Braves began elimination play by knocking off Wii Not Fit 14-3.
While the Braves needed only two more wins on Sunday (over the Strikers and Zodiaks) to earn their ticket to the championship game, Wii Not Fit had to play and win five games in a row in order to set up a rematch with the Braves.
In the title tilt, Wii Not Fit got the early jump with the maximum five runs in the top of the first inning, while the Braves could muster only three in reply.
After shutting out their opponents to begin the second, the Braves really got the sticks going, scoring nine runs in the second and third innings to take a 12-6 lead.
Wii Not Fit rallied briefly in the fourth with another five-run outburst, but the Braves were simply not to be denied. They shut out the ‘back-door bandits’ in the fifth and sixth innings, while racking up another five runs of their own en route to a 19-15 victory.
The Braves team was comprised of players from five different Interior communites: Merritt, Kamloops, Lytton, Lillooet and Surrey.
Winning pitcher for the Braves was Shane Hurst, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday.
Despite the loss in the final, a special shout-out goes to the cheering section for Wii Not Fit. They constantly kept their team’s spirits up throughout the tournament, while keeping the opposition on their toes with some good-natured heckling.
