INUVIK
Native Yankees pitcher Jordan Rogers was thinking about more than the score as he led his team to an undefeated finish in the inaugural Gary Harley Memorial Tournament.

The Native Yankees gather after their win in the inaugural Gary Harley Memorial Tournament July long weekend. Back row, from left are Richard Alexie, Scott Kuptana, Travis Gordon, Jordan Rogers, Churchill Wolki Jr. and Todd Glemser. Front row, from left are Matthew Skinner, Stefan Allen, Kyle Kuptana, Corey Baetz and Luke Steen. Missing from photo is Nolan Kasook. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo

"We did it for him," said Rogers, speaking of his late father Gary Harley, to whom the slo-pitch tournament was dedicated. "We won the tournament."

Rogers lost his father six and a half years ago.

"We miss him," he said. "He was a great guy. He loved to laugh. Craziest guy you could ever meet."

He got into ball because of his father.

"He's just like me," said Rogers. "Every time he was going to the field, I always wanted to go him. Just like him, we just love to have fun. It's all about everybody here. He loved to bring people together. That's why we named it after him."

Rogers was happy to be playing with his old friends.

"We had a good team here," said Rogers. "We always have fun when we play. We always have laughs. We just put it together. The boys here are some of the greatest I've ever played with."

Many of the Yankees have been playing ball together since their youth.

Scott Kuptana, captain of the team, echoed the long-lasting camaraderie among the group.

"All us boys been playing together for about 10 years, since we were kids," he said. "When we win, it's just that much better."

Playing as a team and picking each other up when they went down were important to the victory, he said.

"We knew we had the best team out there," said Kuptana.

He said winning the tournament in Harley's honour meant a lot.

"I knew us boys were going to come together and play our hardest for him and make sure we get this first annual for him, because we know how much he wanted it," he said.

The Ocean Girls came out on top on the women's side. The team is made up of entirely Tuktoyaktuk players except for two from Inuvik and one from Aklavik.

"That went awesome," said captain Deanna McPherson after the final game. "All the girls played very well this weekend. We like to have fun and that's when it's most fun, when everybody works together and is happy. Shake off the errors, no worries, get it back."

Staying positive was the key to the team's strong performance, she said.

"They're all good teams but we were on our bats all weekend," said McPherson.

She thanked Aklak Air for the company's continued sponsorship of the team.

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