Their name may have changed but they won just the same.
The Beluga Lake Lodge softball team (formerly known as the Angler/Keepers) won its third straight Homer City League title Sunday at Homer Middle School.
Mana Chow tries to tag out Joel Pietsch at second base on Sunday.
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Pitcher Paul Gavenus said the key to the win was chemistry.
"We've been together for quite a while now and I think we've just developed into a persistent team," Gavenus said. "Persistent and consistent."
He could have added timely to the mix, especially when it came to hitting in their last two games of the two-day tournament against team AK Adventure Car Rental.
With the game tied at one run apiece through three innings and two outs, Beluga Lake Lodge started a much-needed rally.
Second baseman Chris Perk started with a double and was driven home by a hit by Sandra Hudson.
A few singles later and the bases were loaded for Gavenus who smartly poked a double to right field to drive in two runs and extend his team's lead to 4-1.
AK Adventure Car Rental got a run in the fourth inning but couldn't find the firepower that had led them undefeated through two full days of the tournament.
With the 4-2 Beluga Lake Lodge victory, the two teams squared off again to play in the championship game.
Beluga shortstop Joel Pietsch got his team on the board early in the first inning with an in-the-park home run.
AK Adventure countered with three runs of their own.
Then, in the second inning, the Beluga bats erupted.
Dan Miotke started with a double, followed by a flyout, a walk and then a hit by Ryjil Christianson.
Doug Johnson then hit another in-the-park home run to score three more.
By the time the inning was over, several on the Beluga team had batted twice and the score was 11-3.
By the bottom of the seventh the score was 13-5 and AK Adventure's late rally fell four runs short, propelling Beluga to the championship, again for the third straight year.
With the state tournament being held in Fairbanks this year, Gavenus said his team opted not to make the trip.
"So this was our big tournament of the year," he said.
Ben Stuart can be reached at ben.stuart@homernews.com.
