Championship swings becomes Clutch Moment of the Year

When the final run crossed the plate in the Rockies’ championship-clinching slo-pitch game last fall, it was more than just a title being secured.

Mitchell Hurtubise was awarded Most Clutch Performance at the 2025 SportsKlub Honours & Hall of Fame banquet.

It was a full-circle SportsKlub moment, one that captured how far our community has come and where it is headed next.

Mitchell Hurtubise delivered one of the greatest single-game performances in Rockies history, blasting two home runs, driving in nine runs, and scoring the winning run himself to seal the championship. In a game that demanded someone step forward, he did it in every possible way.

But when Hurtubise took the stage to accept the award, the story he told was bigger than box scores. He spoke about where SportsKlub truly began. Not in arenas or league schedules, but in backyards and basements. He remembered wrestling in basements and playing football on Louise Lane. Those memories, he said, are the roots of everything SportsKlub has become.

From there, he traced the journey to where it stands now, with organized leagues, packed schedules, and games being played at places like Rotary Place. To Hurtubise, the growth was never about replacing what came before, but expanding it. New faces, new friends, and new chapters all built on the same foundation of people who simply love to play.

He highlighted one of the most unique parts of SportsKlub, something that separates it from almost every other league. There are no referees. There is no outside governing body. What happens on the field is decided by the people on it, and that trust is what makes the environment so inclusive. It allows lifelong friends, brand-new teammates, and everyone in between to share the same space, compete, laugh, and build relationships.

For Hurtubise, that sense of community is what made the championship moment truly special. The final run of the game was not just about winning. It was about who was there. Tyler Evans was there, Braeden Price was there, teammates who had been part of this journey for years were there. In that split second of crossing home plate, Hurtubise said it felt like the perfect send-off for one chapter of SportsKlub and the beginning of another.

That moment also symbolized something bigger, SportsKlub is moving forward into its next era of baseball. Hurtubise pointed to the COVID year, when slo-pitch leagues shut down and SportsKlub organizers stepped up to organize its own full season and playoffs. That, he said, proved that this group has everything it needs to build whatever comes next.

And now, that next chapter is already taking shape. A new SportsKlub website is here, a new era of leagues, teams, and stories is coming with it. Hurtubise made sure everyone in the room knew how much work has gone into it, crediting Evans for the countless hours, from the very first SportsKids website built in 2007 to what SportsKlub has become today.

In the end, the Clutch Moment of the Year wasn’t just about two home runs, nine RBIs, or even a championship. It was about a run across home that connected the past to the future. A reminder that what started as kids playing in a backyard has become something bigger, something shared, and something that belongs to everyone who puts on a jersey with the SportsKlub flag.