The Canadians had the best of both worlds Monday night - a comfortable win with a walk off finish to clinch their fourth straight Memorial Field Fastball League title.
The Canadians used three home runs in the second inning to build a big lead and then had a walk off hit by Jeff Weekes to end the game in the fifth inning with an 8-1 victory over the Park Hotel Giants.
The Game 4 win gave the Canadians the series three games to one.
"This never really gets old. Winning is always a lot of fun," said Brett Friesen of the Canadians, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
Facing elimination, the Giants opened the scoring as Terry Banilevic hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning.
That set the table for the Canadians' big inning.
With two out, Friesen hit a three-run home run to dead centre field. Weekes followed that with a single before Dane Roy hit a two-run home run. The next batter was Dave Helland and his solo home run put the Canadians ahead 6-1.
"That was a great inning for us because we did all of that with two outs," said Friesen.
"We wanted to make sure we got on them early and didn't have to go the distance and play two full games."
Canadians pitcher Xavier Tremblay said the early lead helped him settle down. He did that and then some as he closed the door on the Giants. Tremblay earned the Top Playoff Pitcher honours after winning three games in the series.
"They hit the ball well in the second there - three home runs and it was the bulk of their scoring. We held them down pretty good until the fifth," said Giants pitcher Dale Garthus.
"X pitched well. He threw a three-hitter and that's what you need in a big game. He just overpowered lot of our guys. I thought we hit the ball well this series, besides (Monday). I think that's a credit to X and the way he pitched."
Tremblay allowed three hits and struck out four in five innings.
"I felt pretty confident the last couple of weeks," said Tremblay. "We hit the ball again and we didn't make too many mistakes."
Neither team made an error and the Canadians defence made a few excellent defensive plays.
"We played both sides of the field really well. Chris Holoien made an amazing catch behind third base," said Friesen. "That took a lot of wind out of their sails. They could have just as easily got rolling if he doesn't make that catch."
It was still 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth when the Canadians had their first chance to end the game by going up by seven runs. They loaded the bases and saw Garthus walk Friesen to bring Colin Folk home. That set the table for Weekes' double off the centre field fence that ended the game and began the celebrations.
"When we came in that inning we knew we wanted to finish it," said Friesen. "We didn't want to give them another chance. They can turn a ball game around in a hurry with their bats."
Weekes finished with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
Derrick Ross took the loss for the Giants as he gave up six runs on six hits in two innings work.
