For their first foray across the Canada-U.S. border, the Yellowknife Merchants senior men's fastball team didn't know what they were getting themselves into.
Now that it's over, they realized that they belonged, but they just need to score some runs next time.
The team, made up of players from the Yellowknife Fastball League, took on some of the best teams from across the continent at the North American Fastball Association (NAFA) World Series in La Crosse, Wisconsin last weekend. They entered the A Major division, which was a bit of a guess, according to coach Rob Johnson, but it seemed to be the right one.
"No wins, but we were in every single game and we ended up being in the right bracket," he said.
They started on Aug. 8 with a game against Bar Blues from Wisconsin, the defending champions, and ended up on the wrong end of a 4-1 decision.
Johnson said it was a game they definitely could've won.
"Nerves overwhelmed us a bit, I think," he said. "There were 38 teams at this tournament and that's something a lot of these guys just haven't experienced before, they weren't used to it."
They then took on Optimum Crush (not the Yellowknife version of the team known as the Rockies) and fell by a score of 6-2. Again, it was the bats that let them down, said Johnson.
After those two contests, the teams were seeded and placed into the double-elimination knockout playoff bracket. That meant every team had two lives in which to get to the final. Unfortunately, the Merchants would lose two straight and that was all she wrote.
Had the Merchants won their second playoff game after losing the first one, it would've been a long road back to the final, but Johnson said the goal was to try and keep playing for as long as they could.
Johnson also said while the bats ended up being ice cold, the same couldn't be said about the pitching.
"Steve (Thomas) was great and gave us a chance every time he was out there," he said. "We picked up another pitcher from Calgary (Ryan Simpson) who we saw at provincials (last month) and he threw great also."
Whether the Merchants make a return trip next year is still unknown, he added, but there is a goal already in place for 2025.
"The plan is to try and go to (Softball Canada) nationals in 2025," he said. "Going to NAFA was a way to get some confidence and play some good teams and be ready for what the guys could be facing next year."
