The pitching of Adam Folkard, along with the power of Steve Mullaley and Jeff Ellsworth, was a lethal combination for Six Nations (Ont.) on Thursday.

Those three led Hill United Chiefs to a 3-1 win over Jarvis (Ont.) Travelers in the International Softball Congress World Fast Pitch Tournament at Currie Stadium.

"When Adam is pitching that way, you can beat anybody," said Chiefs' manager Doug Eidt. "He hasn't been healthy, but he is healthy now and he can beat any team there is."

The win puts the Chiefs in the winners bracket final tonight at 8 p.m. against Pennsylvania Power. Jarvis plays today at 4 p.m. against the winner of California As/Toronto Gators, who played at noon.

"Power is the cinderella team with Lucas Mata pitching for them," said Eidt. "He is a dominant pitcher. So, it will be two dominant pitchers."

Folkard, arguably the world's best fast pitch pitcher, allowed just five hits while striking out seven, but got 12 ground outs.

"I had some good pitches and some bad pitches," said Folkard. "There is always room to improve. When you're not pitching your best, it is nice to have your team backing you up. It was good team effort."

The Chiefs took a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Ellsworth drew a one out walk and two batters later, Mullaley blasted a Sean Cleary pitch over the centerfield fence and onto leftfield of Diamond 3.

"That set the tone for us," said Eidt.

Ellsworth put the home team up 3-0 in the third as his homer also ended up in leftfield of Diamond 3.

Cleary suffered the loss as he went the first 2 1/3 innings while giving up two hits and three earned runs.

However, Folkard was too tough on the Travelers as he only faced 17 batters through the first five innings.

Jarvis had a great opportunity in the sixth as Ben Enoka stroked a one-out single and Brandon Horne followed with a walk. Both runners advanced 60 feet via a passed ball. But, Folkard struck out Brad Rona and got Ian Fehrman to ground out, ending the threat.

The Travelers, who have won the past two World Tournaments, mounted a threat in the top of the seventh. Donnie Hale took a 2-0 pitch from Folkard to right for an opposite field homer, cutting the lead to 3-1. Freddy Terkelson followed with a single, but Folkard got the next two batters via strikeout, bringing up pinch-hitter Ryan Wolfe.

Wolfe, the Travelers' regular centerfielder and lead-off hitter was sitting out the game due to injury. But, the All-World player was no match for Folkard as he went down swinging, sealing the victory for Hill United.

"Not having Ryan at the top of the order hurts them," said Eidt. "He played for me on our Kitchener team the last three years, so I know what he can bring to the table."

The top-ranked New York Gremlins committed two errors in the eighth inning Thursday as Pennsylvania Power took a 2-1 victory.

"It was an awesome win," said Power manager Eric Fogel. "We've played them quite a few times over the course of the year and came close. Tonight, on the big stage the guys came through. They played hard."

The victory sends Pennsylvania into the winners' bracket final today against Six Nations at 8 p.m. New York awaits the winner of Saskatoon Diamondbacks/Fargo (ND) Kegel Black Knights in the 6 p.m. game.

"The job is not done yet," said Fogel. "The goal is to win it all. We still got a tough road ahead of us."

Mathieu Roy scored the game's first run in the fifth as he hit a high fly ball to left. Power leftfielder Karl Gollan turned the wrong way as the ball went over his head. When he went to retrieve the ball, he didn't field it cleanly, allowing the speedy Roy to scamper home with an inside-the-park-homer.

But, Power didn't wait long to respond as Frank DeGroat tied the game in the top of the sixth. The catcher's blast went on a line shot over the leftfield fence.

"It was like a laser," said Fogel.

After Roy's homer, Power pitcher Lucas Mata was perfect as he set down 11 batters in a row for the victory.

"Lucas was unbelievable on the mound," said Fogel. "Wow."

With one out in the eighth, Power's Tom Enoka hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Todd Schultz misplayed into right field. Rightfielder Bryan Abrey picked up the ball and his throw in was low and got past the cut off man, allowing Enoka to end up on third.

On the next pitch, Derrick Zechman hit a high chopper over a drawn-in infield and into left, scoring Enoka with the winning run.

Mata struck out 14 and allowed just three hits in his complete game victory.

Andrew Kirkpatrick suffered the loss as he went all eight innings while allowing five hits and striking out six.