Garden River's hopes dashed by one swing

One swing of the bat made all the difference as the Prince George River Kings left Garden River as Canadian champions.

Facing hometown Garden River for the Canadian Native Fastball Association championship on Sunday afternoon, Prince George's Randy Potskin did what not too many others have been able to do -- take Darren Zack for a ride.

In the top half of the seventh and final inning, Potskin, who would later be named most valuable player, took a Zack offering over the left field fence to give the River Kings a 1-0 lead. The home run took all the steam from the Garden River team as Prince George would add another in the inning for the 2-0 win.

The win for Prince George marks the team's fourth consecutive national championship and ninth in team history.

Until the seventh inning, Prince George managed only two hits and a walk offensively off Zack, who is regarded as one the best fastball pitchers in the world.

Garden River had opportunities to score runs earlier in the game but Prince George pitcher Joey Basaraba managed to pitch out of every jam on his way to the complete game shutout.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Garden River had the bases loaded before Basaraba closed the inning with a strikeout. Garden River also had runners on first and second with two outs in both the fifth and sixth innings but a popout ended the fifth and a double play the sixth.

The defensive highlight of the game belonged to Garden River right fielder Warren Sayers, who made a diving catch before completing a double play by throwing out the runner, who had failed to tag up, at first base. The fourth inning play kept his team in the game as Prince George was working on cashing in a leadoff walk.

Both teams met earlier in the tournament with British Columbia's Prince George also scoring a 2-0 win. With a loss, Garden River would have needed to beat Prince George twice in the final in order to win the championship.

In earlier play, Garden River opened the tournament with a 5-0 win over Muscowpetung before edging the Bucktown Bees 2-1. Garden River advanced to the final with a 5-0 win over Bucktown in the division semi-final.

* In men's B division play, Ontario's Sagamok defeated the Mallard Stars from Manitoba 6-3 to win the division championship.

Despite winning four tournament games, Garden River was ousted from the tournament after falling to Mallard 5-2 in the game which sent the winner to the semi-finals. Earlier, Garden River fell to the eventual champion Sagamok 8-2.

* In the women's division, Garden River advanced to championship game undefeated but dropped two straight games to the Alexis Jets from Alberta 5-3 and 10-3. In earlier games, Garden River defeated the Moraviantown Ladies 6-2, Gordon First Nation 1-0 and Alexis 10-1.

.