For the third straight year, and for a third straight time against the Veteran Bulls, the Macklin Lakers are Battle River Baseball League champions after their 4-2 win on Thursday night completed a series comeback, keeping the trophy in Saskatchewan for another year.
The Lakers used a strong start from Jared Hillis on the mound, throwing 5.1 innings with only two runs allowed, making way for Cody Gartner who closed the game with 1.2 innings in relief.
Macklin's win came in front of home fans who watched their Lakers take a series opening loss last Monday. Facing elimination, Macklin battled back two days later for an 8-5 win in Veteran to force last night's winner-take-all Game 3, sending Lakers fans home happy.
"Thank you to everyone who came out to support through our season!"
It was a terrific season for Macklin. The Lakers didn't take their first loss of the season until Game 2 of the second round against Czar, showing resilience a couple of times en route to the league title.
Next up for Macklin is Tier 3 provincials this weekend in Carnduff, across the province nearly 800 km from Macklin.
The Lakers first game is at 3:00 PM on Friday against Redvers, and then on Saturday they play at 9:00 AM, and 6:00 PM. Sunday sees Macklin back in action at 12:00, and then after that game the top two teams in the standings face each other Sunday at 4:00.