The Kitchener Cubs, one of two local fastball clubs competing at the national men’s fastball championship in Stratford, fought their way to a bronze finish on Sunday.
With an impressive 7-1 record in round robin play, the Cubs entered the tournament round on Saturday, where they faced the Scarborough Force. Losing that game 7-2 meant they were down, but not yet out — the tournament round was double elimination.
The Cubs began fighting their way back through the losers’ bracket with a 13-3 win against a Nova Scotia team Saturday evening and a 5-3 win against Newfoundland’s Don Cherrys on Sunday morning.
And, in the semifinal round, they found themselves against the team that put them in the losers’ bracket: the Scarborough Force.
“We played them a few times and we’ve always played close games; we’ve had a few extra inning games,” Coach Brad Thomson said.
“We played well but fell behind at the get go. We clawed our way back … it just didn’t come together,” Thomson said, adding that “it was a pretty gutsy performance.”
Scarborough would move on to the championship game, defeating the Cubs by a score of 10-7.
Ending the tournament in the bronze position, the Cubs received further recognition for their performance. Pitcher Scott Wagar and outfielder Bob Gillow were selected as part of the tournament’s all-Canadian team.
Thomson said that even though the goal was a national championship they “had a really good run.”
Another local team, the Kitchener Outlaws, went 1-6 during the round robin and did not qualify for the tournament round.
Newfoundland’s Cheers Pub would take the gold in the championship game against Scarborough, winning 5-4.