The weekend started out under grey and damp skies, but the sun came out to brighten the Bruno Merchants' day on Sunday.
The 2011 Softball Saskatchewan Senior B Men's Provincial Championship was held in Saskatoon July 22-24 with nine teams competing. Bruno, who had won five of the last six titles, was a favourite to repeat, as were the Delisle Diamond Dogs and Bulyea Rustlers.
Bruno kicked off the tournament with a 10-4 victory over the Hanley Merchants. This was a close game, tied at four, until the seventh inning when Bruno exploded at the plate scoring six runs in the top of the inning and then shutting their opponents down in the bottom of the seventh.
"This was a very exciting game," said Bruno coach Ray Bender. "Our pitching was good and B.L. Sparvier came up with a big home run and two doubles for us. Jordie Gagnon also had a couple of key hits for us."
Bruno's next game was against the Bulyea Rustlers. This game wasn't as close as the Merchants came up with a 5-0 victory.
Saturday started off early for the Merchants with a game against the Saskatoon Kekembas at 8:30 a.m. This game didn't go so well for Bruno as they lost 11-6. Bruno rebounded later in the day, defeating the Saskatoon Padres 8-3. Their 4-1 record in the round robin meant Bruno finished first in their pool, advancing to the playoff round.
Bruno's first game on Sunday morning was against the Delisle Diamond Dogs, a team against which they had a 1-1 record in previous meetings in the season. The winner of the game would advance straight to the championship final, while the loser would have to play and win a semifinal to make it back to the final.
This morning game gave the Merchants no problem as they defeated Delisle 5-0.
Bruno then watched as Bulyea defeated the Saskatoon Tint Centre Cubs 11-2 and then beat Delisle 9-7. This was a close game, but two errors late in the game cost the Dogs an opportunity to send the game into extra innings.
In the final, Bruno got off to a quick start, sending eight batters to the plate in the top of the first inning, scoring three runs. The Rustlers fought back, tying the game at three in their half of the first. The Merchants continued their strong offence, sending seven batters to the plate in the second inning and scoring two more runs to lead 5-3. Neither team scored more runs until the fourth inning when Bruno exploded for five runs, thanks to a double, a home run, and several singles that all sent runners home.
The Merchants scored four more runs in the top of the fifth, thanks to three home runs, including two that just didn't go over the fence, but cleared the line of trees behind the centre field fence. That would be it for scoring as the Merchants shut down the Rustler offence in the bottom of the fifth to claim a 12-3 victory and the Provincial title.
Bender had nothing but praise for the Rustlers' efforts.
"This was their fourth game of the day and they just ran out of pitching," Bender said. "We lost to the Rustlers at Westerns in 2010, so this was nice for us."
Bruno's championship belongs to the entire team, Bender said, as everyone pitched in.
"Everyone played well," he said. We had timely hitting all weekend and our pitchers really showed their stuff."
Bruno now heads to Stonewall, Manitoba for the Western Canadians August 11-14.
