The Fitz Bombers of Fort Smith came close to winning the Coors Mixed Slo-Pitch Tournament in Hay River earlier this month, losing in the final.

They went one better a few days ago and that win came with the NWT title.

The Bombers are your 2017 NWT Co-Ed Slo-Pitch Championship A winners after defeating the Average Joes of Yellowknife by a score of 14-9 in a testy final. The win was a spot of revenge for the Bombers as the Joes defeated them in the round-robin phase.

SA国际影视传媒淒efinitely worth the drive to Yellowknife,SA国际影视传媒� said Justin Bourque, captain of the Bombers. SA国际影视传媒淚t was good ball all weekend.SA国际影视传媒�

In that round-robin meeting, the Joes used the long ball to their advantage, hitting several home runs with runners on base to propel them to an 18-15 win, the only loss the Bombers suffered all tournament.

SA国际影视传媒淚t didn't go our way that game, but that's the way it goes sometimes,SA国际影视传媒� said Bourque. SA国际影视传媒淭he important thing is we beat them when it mattered. We just came out flat that first game and we can't blame it on anything.SA国际影视传媒�

Besides the on-field battle, the Bombers had to contend with a rather boisterous and vocal crowd that was squarely on the side of the Joes all game long.

Bourque said it was nothing they haven't encountered before.

SA国际影视传媒淲e take a lot of grief from the fans wherever we go,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲e have thick skin for it and it doesn't bother us at all. It happens a lot.SA国际影视传媒�

Over in the B division, the Fort Simpson Braves made sure it was a community sweep by defeating the Delta Force of Yellowknife in that final.

Braves captain Darwin Norwegian said it doesn't matter what letter is in front of the title.

SA国际影视传媒淎 win is a win and we got it,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲e came to win and we did. We drove six hours to get to Yellowknife and we wanted to walk out with a title.SA国际影视传媒�

While offence is the name of the game in slo-pitch, defence is what wins ball games and Norwegian said his team had plenty of good gloves all tournament long.

SA国际影视传媒淎 complete team effort all around on defence,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

The bonus prize for the champions and the runners-up in each division is an invite to the Slo-Pich National Canadian Championships in 2018 with the closest host city being Leduc, Alta.

Norwegian said winning the title was great, but getting the guaranteed spot was even better.

SA国际影视传媒淲e came with the ultimate goal of getting one of those invitations,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲e don't know what division we'll be playing in yet. We'll discuss that as a team and see where everyone wants to play.SA国际影视传媒�

As for the Bombers, Bourque said the team was happy to get a territorial title under their belts, but the itch of travelling is strong.

SA国际影视传媒淢ost likely, I think we all want to see how we fare against other teams in the country,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲e were missing a few key players so I want to see how we would do with our full team.SA国际影视传媒�