The Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament wrapped up in thrilling fashion with the Burnaby Bulldogs staging a dramatic ninth-inning comeback for a 6-5 victory over the Everett Merchants on Monday at James Donaldson Park in Grand Forks.
The Merchants led throughout the match taking a 5-3 lead into the seventh, before the Bulldogs would score in the bottom half of the inning, narrowing the lead to one.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the ninth. Burnaby’s Brendan Gaunt grounded out to short to lead off the ninth, but Colby Rossi singled and James Zamko would double putting the tying run at third and the winning run on second. Surprisinly, Tyler Yorko came in as a pinchhitter for centrefielder Shawn Schaefer who had a double and three RBIs in the game. However, Yorko would deliver taking a two-strike pitch deep to bring home the walk-off winnig runs and the championship for Burnaby.
The Bulldogs picked up $20,000 for their efforts, while second place, Everett, took home $12,000; Seattle Studs and Thurston County Senators rounded out the top four, taking home $5,000 each.
Everett advanced to the final by beating the Seattle Studs 4-2, while Burnaby moved on by defeating the Thurston County Senators 4-2.