The Southeast Legacy Twins played arguably the best ball of their season on the weekend, winning a tournament in Medicine Hat.
The midget baseball team edged the Calgary Rockies 3-2 in the final on a walk-off single by Garret Fitzpatrick.
Carver Krafchuk and James Giroux both walked to lead off the inning, followed by a single by Sean Jonassen. Fitzpatrick then singled in the winning run.
"A couple of guys stepped up and got the inning going and then moved around the bases. Garret's been one of our leaders all year and you couldn't ask for a better guy to come up in that situation," said Twins head coach Derek Wallace.
The Twins had scored two runs in the fifth inning, on a sacrifice by Giroux and a double by Jonassen.
The Rockies scored runs in the second and sixth innings.
Dylan Hockley started the game for the Twins and threw three innings. Chris Cooper and Brandon Hutt came on in relief.
"It was huge. We had to kinda piecework it together," Wallace said of the Twins' pitching in the final. They used three pitchers in order to sneak their hurlers in under the pitch count rules.
Wallace added that winning the tournament comes at a good time for the Twins and should boost their spirits during a tough season.
"It's a really big confidence boost, especially since provincials are only three weeks away now. It's really good for the guys to see that when they play their game and play to their potential, they're capable of winning a tournament."
The championship game was a rematch of the Twins' first game of the tournament, where things started off on the wrong foot, as they lost 15-5 to the Rockies on Friday.
However, they went on to win four straight after that, beginning with a 9-8 victory over the Calgary Redbirds on Saturday morning.
They then knocked off the Lethbridge Giants 18-14 in their final round-robin game.
That sent the Twins to the semifinals, where they dominated the host Medicine Hat Knights 10-3 to advance to the final.
"Our offence really came alive that weekend. It was probably the best overall weekend our offence has had. A couple of guys who have been struggling stepped up really big," Wallace said.
He noted that Fitzpatrick and Logan Hertes were two of the team's better batters, while Hutt and Giroux each had a couple of strong starts on the mound.
The Twins are back in regular season action on Saturday when they host a doubleheader against the Regina Mets. Game times are 1 and 3 p.m. at Lynn Prime Park.
