Hill United Chiefs dream of three-peat comes true

Adam Folkard pitched Six Nations Hill United Chiefs to the 2015 ISC World Tournament championship, Aug. 15, and was selected the Leroy Zimmerman Most Outstanding Pitcher.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Six Nations Hill United Chiefs of Ontario, Canada were pursuing a dream and chasing a legend.

And on a late Saturday night at the Belleville Softball Complex in South Bend, the dream came true and the legend was caught.

Led by the superb pitching of Adam Folkard and a clutch home run from Jason Hill, the Chiefs rallied to defeat the Toronto, Ontario, Gators, 6-4, to clinch the 69th International Softball Congress World Tournament championship.

The milestone win fulfills the Chiefs’ dream of winning three consecutive ISC World Tournament championships, matching the legendary Long Beach, Calif. Nitehawks who accomplished the feat from 1958-1960.

But the Chiefs’ dream was on the brink of being shattered by a resilient Gators (8-2) squad that was playing its third ball game of the day in sweltering heat, and 10th of the tournament after a second-round loss to Circle Tap of Wisconsin.

Centerfielder Brad Ezekiel got the Chiefs off to a great start by blasting Kyle Linton’s second pitch of the ball game over the left-centerfield fence. But the early lead was short-lived.

In their half of the first, the Gators capitalized an error and a walk to put Ben Enoka and Nathan Nukunuku aboard. However, Folkard toughened, striking out Thomas Enoka and getting Shane Boland to ground out.

But Brad Rona refused to let Folkard wriggle free. He pounced on a Folkard drop ball, sending it bounding over the tall pitcher’s head into centerfield, scoring Enoka and Nukunuku.

Then the tournament’s RBI leader stepped into the right-side batters box. Wayne Laulu blasted an outside Folkard rise ball over the right-field fence for his fifth home run and 15th and 16th RBI of the tournament.

And suddenly the Gators had surged ahead, 4-1.

But Folkard showed his grit. Over the rest of the game, starting with a strikeout to finally stop the first inning damage, the Australian struck out 13, gave up one hit and induced four ground balls and an infield popup.

After falling behind, the Chiefs capitalized on an outfield error in the second inning that allowed Mark Johnson to reach third base, and later score on Joel Southam’s sacrifice fly to leftfield.

Then over the next three innings, Linton, who pitched the first four innings, and reliever Sean Cleary, held the Chiefs scoreless. It seemed that the two evenly matched ball clubs were headed for a second game to decide the championship in the double-knockout format.

But in the sixth, with a fierce swing of his bat from the left-side batters box, Jason Hill put an end to any thoughts of a second game.

Jeff Ellsworth started the inning by working Cleary for a walk. One out later, Steve Mullaley lined a double into centerfield with Ellsworth sliding safely into third.

That brought Hill to the plate.

And the designated player batting in the five spot turned on Cleary’s inside offering and sent the ball screaming over the right-field fence. The ball traveled on a straight line no more than 15-feet high and took just a few seconds to land in the bleachers beyond the fence.

Hill’s blast – one of the hardest hit homers in the tournament – sent Ellsworth, Mullaley and Hill cavorting in joy around the bags, much to the delight of their teammates and fans.

With the lead, Folkard needed just three outs to finish off the Gators, whose last appearance in an ISC World Tournament championship game was in 1995 when they won the title.

Folkard fired 80 mph rise balls past Laulu and Jeremy O’Reilly for strikeouts to start the inning. Compain fought off a Folkard drop ball for a safety into leftfield to give the Gators’ life. But Folkard whipped a drop ball at Frank Pointon that he grounded out to end the game.

And then the Chiefs started celebrating their third consecutive ISC title that started with the first in 2013 at the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois, and the second last year in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

During that span, Hill United has won 18 consecutive world tournament games. And in 2012, the Chiefs finished second at 5-1, to post a four-year record of 23-1.

During this remarkable run, Folkard has won 18 consecutive games, moving him to second all-time behind Gerald Muizelaar with 23. Folkard’s six wins gives him 35 in his ISC World Tournament career, No. 10 in most wins, all-time.

Folkard finished the 2015 world tournament with a 0.21 ERA. He pitched 34 innings, allowed one earned run on 11 hits, with six walks and 60 strikeouts.

Folkard was selected the tournament’s Leroy Zimmerman Most Outstanding Pitcher, his fifth such honor (2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015) that ties him No. 1 all-time with Zimmerman (1950, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960).

The Most Valuable Player award went to Hill United’s Nick Shailes. The Chiefs’ infielder batted .333 (6-for-18), including three home runs, seven runs scored, along with 10 RBI.

Kevin Herlihy Newcomer of The Year was awarded to Kallan Compain. The Gators’ catcher batted .435 (10-for-23), six runs, 13 RBI, including two doubles and three home runs.

(All-World teams to be announced by the ISC. I couldn’t hear all of the names by the announcer during the live webcast.)

TOP FOUR TEAMS

1. Hill Untied Cheifs 6-0
2. Toronto Gators 8-2 (Saturday, the Gators defeated the Gremlins, 4-3, and A1 Bombers, 5-4.)
3. A1 Bombers 4-2
4. New York Gremlins 4-2