Going... going... gone!
“This program has been a part of my life since I was born because my dad (Jim) has coached here since before I was born. It’s been a great honour to be a part of the club for as many years as I have been. It’s been a great experience.
“It’s amazing, just being here with my dad and my friends with coach O (Scott Oikawa) and Coach Layts (Chad Layton). It’s awesome.”
That fitting one-run dinger in his final at-bat didn’t go unnoticed by Oikawa.
“Great to way to end your career here at Spitz,” said Oikawa. “He’s been battling injuries and things like that this year, so it’s a nice way to finish things off going into the State tournament.”
Kotkas snagged a bit of the spotlight late in Saturday’s game, but pregame all four veterans were given an equal tip of the hat.
“It’s nice for the guys who have worked so hard to represent this program and to be able to finish here at home and be recognized for their hard work and their play,”said Oikawa. “(Penner) been a longtime, quality player for us in this program. We had two new guys this year who contributed well. Blake Thompson and Landon McHugh. It’s nice to have those guys step in. They didn’t miss a beat and fit in well and definitely contributed.”
They’ll get to contribute some more with Bozeman beckoning beginning Wednesday.
“We had our ups and downs, but I think we’ve really come together in the end,” said Kotkas. “We started to to hit a bit more and hopefully we can bring that into the State.”
Liam Leech led the Elks at the plate Saturday afternoon with three hits, while Torrin Vaselenak, Ty Penner and Thompson had two hits each.
Chase Florendine took the pitching loss for Lethbridge.