An area fastball team has kept up its dominance of the game.The Bruno Merchants men's fastpitch team won its fifth Senior B Provincial Men's title in six years, cleaning up the competition at the 2010 tournament in Saskatoon held July 23-25.Bruno didn't enter the Senior B category the year they didn't win; instead they played in the Senior A Nationals that were played in Saskatoon.The Merchants took the hard road to the final in the 10-team tournament. Bruno won their first game 8-1 against the Regina Silverscreen before scoring an 8-7 extra-inning victory over the Saskatoon Kekembas on July 23. The Merchants lost their next game 9-1 to the Saskatoon Padres the next day, but bounced back to defeat the Regina Gold 3-0.Their 3-1 record placed Bruno first in their pool, pitting them against the Bulyea Rustlers, who finished first in the other pool. Bruno defeated the Rustlers 14-9 in their first playoff game.Bulyea and Bruno also met in the final, where Bruno won 14-2 to claim the Provincial title."We lost one bad one," explained Bruno coach Ray Bender. "But you know how it is, when you lose, you get mad."The Merchants, who play in the Keith McLean Division of the Saskatoon Amateur Softball Association (SASA), finished the league in fifth place with a record of 6-90. The team had 12 points in 15 games played and finished with a .400 win record."We had a tough season," Bender said. "We struggled with the weather and with fielding enough players."The Merchants and Bulyea will compete at the Western Senior B Fastpitch championships in Alberta August 12-15.The Merchants have won Westerns the last three years."Our objective is to win," Bender said. "We are going for four."
