Jerome “Stumpy” Boyce took the mound in the fifth wearing that bright characteristic smile of his and closed the game out for the Shuswap Defenders in the 100 Mile House men’s fastball league finals on July 24 – a big 13-2 win over the Jake’s Pub Old Buds, a rematch of the 2014 championship series.
The result was a different one last summer, recalling Jake’s Pub’s stunning six-run comeback in their final at bats to pull out a 9-8 win over Shuswap in the third and deciding game.
Stumpy remembers, but it’s all the same to him. Win or lose, it’s all about having fun out there on that diamond, he says after claiming the 2015 title in decisive fashion at Lumberman’s Park in 100 Mile House.
“We keep talking about picking ourselves up after errors and to keep having fun.”
Robin Gilbert pitched a stellar four innings for Shuswap and hit a home run in the second. Mark Boyce followed that up with a deep ball of his own in the third and an inside the park home run in the fifth.
Pat Mcaren hit a home run for Jake’s Pub.
“It was fun,” says Stumpy. “We’ll probably be back next year.”
Shuswap won Game 1 of the series, 2-0, on July 21.
A handful of Shuswap Defenders are now off to Winnipeg to compete in the senior men’s division of the Canadian Native Fastball Championships, where the Shuswap Windwalkers will also be taking the field in the senior women’s division, July 31-Aug. 2.
