The Gibsons Coho Kings captured the Loggers' Days fast pitch tournament in Squamish last weekend with an impressive 5-2 record.
Gibsons started play with an opening 7-4 loss to Squamish.
Jim "Weepee" Peers pitched a compete game for the Coho Kings in the loss. The defence was shaky, and one bad inning where Gibsons gave up four runs proved to be the difference.
In game two Saturday night, Gibsons beat the Dukes 8-1 behind a compete game from Mike Sopow. The defence was much better and the bats came alive.
On Sunday morning, Coho Kings came back from a 7-0 deficit after two innings to pull out a 9-8 win over the Vancouver Meralomas.
Sean Vanstrepan and Dave Moran each belted home runs, Kevin Penonzek made a diving stab at third to throw a guy out and Brett Trefry had a clutch hit off the fence to put him into scoring position where Sopow hit him home for the winning run.
The Squamish Wizards were the next victims as Gibsons dispatched them 12-3 on Sunday afternoon. Sopow pitched a strong game and the offence came alive in the first inning with six runs. Doug Allen and Randy Tulk each had home runs.
On Sunday night, Gibsons lost 9-2 to the Mariners. The team had little energy after a long day. Sopow pitched the first three innings, giving up four runs. Peers pitched the final four innings in relief.
In the semifinal Monday afternoon, the Coho Kings played a great game thanks to clutch pitching from Peers and beat Cat and Fiddle Pub from Coquitlam 8-1.
Cat and Fiddle had put up big numbers throughout the tournament, but were stymied by Peers' pitching and strong defence. Allen and Vanstrepan each hit home runs.
In the final, Gibsons got their revenge against the Mariners, winning 7-1. Peers pitched another strong game, Tulk and Vanstrepan each hit home runs and Tulk contributed defensively too as he made an amazing catch in centre field which led to a double play. Penonzek also made a stellar catch that also led to another double play that killed any momentum for the Mariners.
"The team got a boost from the return of Sean, Glen Dempster and Weepee," said Sopow. "Randy, Sean and Doug all had strong weekends at the plate. James Pomfret and Rob Dixon helped give the team a much-needed morale boost Saturday night as Rob dug a hard one out of the dirt.
"Both Aaron Hately and Dave Moran had strong performances behind the plate, and Kevin Penonzek and Brett Trefry were also excellent defensively in the infield."
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