The Sunshine Coast Fastpitch League finished their season with Hackett Park as the venue for the playoffs. Returning to their home field was a treat for the players and the community as many fans came out to watch some great baseball over the weekend.
The first semi-final of the tournament had Lon’s Gun Show facing off against the Bears with Erin Roufosse taking the mound for the Gun Show and Christina Lewis for the Bears. The Bears jumped out to an early lead in the first with Drew Johnston hitting a triple, putting himself into scoring position for Brad Scott to easily knock him in. Derek Inkster was able to score a couple more runs before the Gun Show could get out of the inning, giving the Bears an early 3-0 lead. Grant Chapman continued his strong hitting in the third inning by hitting a two-run homerun to put the Bears up 5-0. After the third Erin had settled into a groove and the fans were treated to some excellent pitching from both Christina and Erin. Lon’s was not able to get to Christina until the top of the seventh when Dan Beyers started off the top of the inning with a homerun. The Bears still had a commanding 5-1 lead and they were able to retire two of the three next batters, but with two out and a little bit of luck the Gun Show did not give up and Nate Deboer and Nolan Lewarne hit a couple of Texas leaguers to get on and Mike Sopow punched one through the infield to put Lon’s Gun Show ahead. Shocked by the turn of events, the Bears went three up and three down in the bottom of the seventh, allowing Lon’s to complete the surprise comeback, winning 6-5.
The loss for the Bears was not the end for them as they would play in another semi-final against the Cutthroats. The Cutthroats jumped out to an early lead with Therin Hemstalk hitting a homerun to start the game. Therin also started on the mound for the Cutthroats and was able to limit the Bears’ bats from stringing any hits together. Christina Lewis was on the mound again for the Bears and she was able to pitch her team out of some tough jams and prevent the Cutthroats from running away with the game early on. Derek Inkster continued to swing a hot bat and hit one off of the fence, producing a few runs for the Bears, but not to be outdone, Therin hit two more doubles off the fence during the game. The Bears’ defence did what it could with Brad Scott gunning one from right field to Grant Chapman to get Therin at third base, but in the end the Cutthroat bats were too much and the Cutthroats cruised to a 12-5 win.
Before the final of the playoffs, Custom Carpet and Kurty D’s played in the Beer Cup Final with Custom outlasting Kurty’s in what would turn out to be a marathon game.
The Cutthroats win set up a rematch against Lon’s Gun Show, as the two teams met earlier in the playoffs with Lon’s Gun Show narrowly winning 8-7. This game would prove to be another tight-fought battle. The Cutthroats opened the scoring in the top of the second with Rod Delziel hitting a double to cash in Rob Dixon, giving them a 1-0 lead. Lon’s Gun Show battled back in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 lead when Nolan Lewarne hit a triple to score two runs and the next batter, Nate Deboer, hit a single to score Nolan. The Cutthroats ended up relieving Therin Hemstalk (who had an amazing tournament at the plate and on the mound) and bringing in Bill Stockwell to pitch. Bailey Karloff was able to score for Lon’s in the fourth, pushing the lead to 4-1, but the Cutthroats continued to battle and Brad Kohuch and Grady Benner scored for them in the top of the sixth, making it a one-run game. Danny Beyers stepped up for Lon’s again though and hit a two-run homerun to build their lead back up to three. Erin Roufosse came in to relieve Mike Sopow in the seventh and closed out the game at 6-3, giving Lon’s Gun Show the win and their first back-to-back playoff championship.
The league would like to thank all of the fans who came out to cheer them on this weekend and would also like to thank Ernie Barnum and his officiating crew: Pat, Jim, Rob and Landon for all the work they do and all the grief they put up with. A special thanks to Mike Fawkus and Jim Grey for the efforts they put in to getting the league to a point where we were able to play the playoffs at Hackett, and thanks to Perry Schmitt for making the decision to let us have the playoffs at Hackett.
