CARIBOU — The Swedes co-ed softball team won its third consecutive summer league championship after battling through the loser’s bracket.
The Swedes picked up a first-round win against the DFAS team but fell to Van Buren Hardware in the next round to be bumped into the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament. The Swedes then proceeded to earn two wins in the loser’s bracket, defeating both the Limestone Merchants and Napoli’s, to advance to the championship round.
In the first championship game, the Swedes faced the Van Buren Hardware team that already had knocked them into the loser’s bracket. This time, the Swedes had the upper hand and picked up a 4-0 win. This was Van Buren Hardware’s first loss of the tournament, which meant another game was needed in order to crown a league champion.
In the second game, the Swedes again proved victorious. The game was scoreless until the third inning when the Swedes’ Chad McCarthy and Ashley Doucette crossed the plate to take 2-0 lead. McCarthy scored again in the fifth inning to increase the lead to 3-0.
Van Buren Hardware plated a single run in the top of the sixth inning, but Swedes answered in the bottom of the inning by scoring three times as Ryan Ouellette, Danielle Soucy and Corey Dickinson all crossed the plate. The squad never looked back while holding Van Buren Hardware scoreless in the top of the seventh to pick up a 6-1 victory and claim the 2013 title.