Double D’s make it three in a row with Tuesday night win

Players on the Double D's have come a long way since the days of just tossing the ball around for fun at Porter Creek Secondary School.

Players on the Double D’s have come a long way since the days of just tossing the ball around for fun at Porter Creek Secondary School.

On Tuesday, the team won its third straight game and in the process ensured itself a spot in Saturday’s Whitehorse Co-Ed Slo-Pitch Softball League division finals.

The most recent win came against the Bounty Hunters, which so far is the only team to beat the Double D’s in this year’s Closing Tourney.

However, on Tuesday the outcome was fairly obvious and despite the Bounty Hunters rallying in the sixth inning, the Double D’s cruised to a convincing 19-7 win.

Double D’s head coach and occasional fill-in player Dan Jordan said the win provided a little bit of revenge for a 11-9 loss on Aug. 13. 

“They (the Bounty Hunters) are fun to play against and that’s what these kids are here for,” he said. “They have a lot of fun playing a sport up until now they haven’t really played.”

The victory improved the team’s tournament record to 4-1.

Perhaps what’s the most impressive fact is the Double D’s are a youth development team of mostly players 15 to 16 years old. There is one 17-year-old on the team and a few adults that suit up if needed.

The group was originally put together to play in the 2009 Dustball Tournament, held in July.

After finishing 3-3 in Dustball, the Double D’s discovered there was an opening in the Whitehorse softball league’s division four. They didn’t lose a single game up until taking on the Hello Gorgeous Hair Mouse in the final game of the regular season’s second half.

Heading into Tuesday’s game, the group had beaten Skookum Asphalt, Hello Gorgeous and the Superior Slayers in the playoff round.

The Bounty Hunters found themselves in trouble early on in the top of the second.

Already trailing by a run, the group faced a bases-loaded scenario and having to pitch to Dakota Organ, one of the top hitters on the Double D’s. 

Batting for the first time in the game, Organ crushed the ball over the fence, giving his team a 7-2 advantage. This was the first grand slam he hit this year.

Despite giving themselves a comfortable lead, the Double D’s weren’t done yet and loaded up the bases for the second time of the inning. However, thankfully for the Bounty Hunters, the team’s pitcher got them out of the inning on a ground ball that ended the inning.

After shutting out the Bounty Hunters in the following inning, the Double D’s went back to work. The team once again loaded up the bases and with no outs drove in two.

Another hit from Organ brought in a pair more. He would later score to give his team a 12-2 lead, before the Bounty Hunters got out of the inning on a foul out, counting for the third strike.

After giving up a single in the bottom of the third, Double D’s pitcher Bryden Cook made a nice play, catching a pop up and then firing it to first to get the second out.

The inning ended on a pop out to the outfield.

The Double D’s added seven more runs in the fourth inning, including a double by Organ, which put him one bat away from hitting a cycle.

Organ got the chance in the fifth. With two outs and a runner on second, he stepped to the plate for the fourth time. However, the outcome was slightly different and he popped out to end the inning.

The Bounty Hunters scored one more run in the fifth, but that was all the team would get and the game ended on a pop up to the outfield.

“Our team today just held it together throughout the whole time,” Organ said after the game. “We were steady and we worked together, which made the difference in the end.”

Organ, who earlier in the season played for the Bounty Hunters, said it was nice to beat the Bounty Hunters after losing to them earlier in August.

“This is the team we wanted to beat the most because it’s the only team we lost to (in the Closing Tourney),” he said.

He said the team’s only goal is to improve for next year, which might mean them moving up a division.

Organ’s play was noticed by Jordan, who said he has hit it out of the park on a few occasions this year.

“He’s been our go-to guy,” he said.  “If we need to hit one out he can hit one out and the one he hit out tonight, of course, was a grand slam, so the timing was just perfect.”

Jordan said the team doesn’t have any expectations heading into Saturday’s final round.

“We will just keep playing and having fun,” he said.