Blame it on the heat. Not the heat in Florida, the Heat from Atlanta.
The Heat weathered a determined ninth inning comeback bid by the Comox Valley Cubs to end the Canadian club's run at the 2015 Roy Hobbs World Series in Fort Myers, Fla.
Friday (Nov. 20) morning at Jet Blue Park, The Cubs trailed 6-0 through eight innings before rallying to tie the game in the top of the ninth.
The Heat scored one run in the bottom of the ninth to take a 7-6 win. "It was an exciting game to end it," said Cubs' Kevin Dobbelsteyn. "We all had a great week."
After going 3-2 in pool play, the Comox Valley crew was paced in the AAA division of the playoffs. (There were four divisions: AAAA , AAA, AA and A).
The Cubs were near the bottom of their division, and as Dobbelsteyn predicted they were hard-pressed to advance.
The Cubbies were the Comeback Kids at this year's World Series, winning three games via rallies, and coming close to doing so in all but one defeat.
They opened Sunday, Nov. 15 by erasing a 7-0 deficit to defeat the Cleveland Spiders 8-7. After a 14-2 loss to the San Antonio Texans on Monday, the Comox Valley crew overcame an 11-2 Kent Mudhens lead to win 17-11 on Tuesday. On Wednesday it was more magic in a 4-3 win over the Long Island Yankees.
The Cubbies took a run at yet another rally Thursday, but came up a bit short against the Houston Colt .45s.
On Day 5 of the tournament, the Cubs ran out of time to stage one of their patented rallies.
"In a seven-inning game called on time (three hours max) the teams had 45 hits - yes, 45!" reports Kevin Dobbelsteyn from Florida.
"McGiffen had three doubles to the wall, Egeland continued his steady hitting, and Freeman stirred things up with his bunting display," Dobbelsteyn said.
After being ahead 5-2 early, Houston scored a bunch, then another bunch, to lead 19-9 heading to the last inning. The Cubbies got four to give the .45s a scare, but it finished 17-13.
The Cubs were competing with about 50 other teams in the Classics 60+ division. There are almost 300 teams in all of the divisions.
The tournament is played at the spring training facilities of the Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox, including the almost-brand-new Jet Blue stadium of the Sox.
Follow the action at royhobbs.com/