The future of baseball in Rankin Inlet seems bright after the community wrapped up its first fast pitch tournament earlier this month.

The game has been growing in popularity ever since Holly Mercer and her partner Robert Kabvitok started up a youth team a few years ago.

The team, which is planning on travelling to Yellowknife for a tournament this year, wanted to get some practice before leaving.

That's when they approached Connor Faulkner to see if he could put together a men's team for them to play an exhibition tournament against.

Faulkner reached out to his friend Sidney Nichol to organize a team. After speaking with David Clark, it was suggested they try and organize a men's tournament to see if there was any interest.

SA国际影视传媒�We thought it would be best to draft a format where everyone over the age of 14 could put their name in and be guaranteed a spot on a team,SA国际影视传媒� said Faulkner.

In the end there were enough players to draft three teams, in addition to the U-16 team, which entered on its own.

SA国际影视传媒�Robert Kabvitok asked if they could enter a team for their own personal development. We ended up allowing them to do that,SA国际影视传媒� said Faulkner.

The tournament featured a round robin style play followed by two semi-finals. Nichol said the competition was tight throughout the weekend.

SA国际影视传媒�Every game had excitement and not every game was a blowout. There were guys who didn't even know they can play and they ended up begin really good,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

By the end of the round robin, the Royals were in first place, followed by the U-16 team, The Stealers, then the Yankees in third, with the Bad News Bears in fourth.

In the semi-finals the Royals, who were undefeated in round robin play, ended up besting the Bad News Bears.

SA国际影视传媒�At one point in the game it could have gone either way but the Royals ran away with it in the end,SA国际影视传媒� said Nichol.

The other semi, featuring the U-16 team against the Yankees, ended up being the most exciting game of the weekend. Nichol said the game was intense from the start and it continued to heat up as it went on.

SA国际影视传媒�The intensity in that game was insane,SA国际影视传媒� said Nichol, who played for the Royals. SA国际影视传媒淲e didn't expect that with a bunch of 16-year-olds.SA国际影视传媒�

The game remained close through the first few innings but then things started to get heated. One player from the U-16 team ended up getting tossed from the game by umpire Dave Wiseman.

SA国际影视传媒�The emotions were so high that I think the kids burnt out,SA国际影视传媒� said Nichol.

Both Nichol and Faulkner credited Wiseman for making some tough calls and dealing with some intense situations over the weekend.

SA国际影视传媒�Players didn't always agree with the calls he made. He took crap all weekend. He got heckled a lot but he stood his ground,SA国际影视传媒� said Faulkner. SA国际影视传媒淜udos to him because it wasn't easy.SA国际影视传媒�

The Stealers ended up dropping the bronze medal game to the Bad News Bears after their loss.

In the final, the first-seeded Royals put on a pitching clinic against the Yankees. It was another tight game to start. The Yankees managed to score a few runs in the first inning but Lee Kreelak's pitching kept them off the score sheet for most of the game.

The Royals' Wendel Kaludjak hit a home run midway through the game that brought three people home. In the end the team ran away with the game and ended up winning 13-3.

SA国际影视传媒�We just couldn't keep up with the pitching they had,SA国际影视传媒� said Nichol. SA国际影视传媒淲e didn't expect someone to come in with that amount of skill.SA国际影视传媒�

Not only was the tournament a success on the field, it also drew large crowds despite cold foggy weather on the final day.

Nichol said the organizers hope to run the tournament again next year. Ideally they would like to open it up to the rest of the Kivalliq region and invite teams from other communities.

SA国际影视传媒�It looks like this is going to be an annual event,SA国际影视传媒� said Nichol.