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First-place team taken down a notch Team Mojo pulls together in last inning to beat the Juggernauts
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, July 31, 2013
RANKIN INLET
After trailing behind nearly the entire game, Team Mojo found their stride in the final inning and managed to hand the top-seeded Juggernauts its first loss of the season.
The final score in the regular coed softball season game on July 23 was a close 14-13.
The teams started out on even footing, both scoring two runs in the first.
In the next inning, Team Mojo took the lead with a few nice hits but the Juggernauts weren't giving in.
From there the league's first-place team took control of the game until the pressure apparently got the best of them during the final inning.
A few key mistakes such as failing to catch a couple pop flies and some other errors allowed Team Mojo to make six runs.
"It looks like an easy sport but when the pressure is on it's a lot harder to hit the ball," said Chad Graham, player and vice-president of the Rankin Inlet Co-ed Softball League.
Team Mojo's captain James Connelly was humble about the win.
"The tournament is more of a big thing, league is just warmup," he said.
The final games of the regular season are set to wrap up early next month.
As of last week, the Juggernauts were still in first while Team Mojo and M&T were tied for second.
Avengers and Team Kissarvik were both sitting in fourth and Team Todd was last.
A lot of the top teams have been playing together for years while the others are fairly new to the league, explained Graham.
His advice for the younger teams is just to relax.
"Don't try and do too much. Keep it simple. Don't try and make super long throws, don't try and hit the ball too hard. Just try and make good contact," he said.
"Have fun because once you get frustrated it's hard to play."
M&T captain James Sandy agreed that enjoyment is key.
On July 23, his team played Team Kissarvik.
They kept the game close by practising different batting techniques.
"This game we were actually just having fun. We started hitting opposite hand," said Sandy.
"When the game was getting a little close, we did switch hands again and make sure we weren't going to lose the game."
The final score was 23-17 for M&T.
Sandy said going into the playoffs, the team's plan will be to stick with what they know.
"We're actually one of the older teams out there. We're not stupid fast so we just kind of rely on experience, keep everything calm and keep the game slow at our pace rather than theirs."
The team is lucky this year, he added, to have a few really strong female players.
Lukisha Tatty is in her first year but she's doing very well, said Sandy. She's building her confidence, she's making some great hits and she's starting to look for the ball.
Germaine Tatty is another very strong player, said Sandy.
"She can compete with any guy for hits really."
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