BREMERTON — Several Kitsap BlueJackets fans got to put their brooms to good use.

Mere days after the BlueJackets were eliminated from the postseason, Kitsap returned the favor, knocking out the same Bend Elks that ended its run.

“I think we were playing with some fire,” Kitsap coach Matt Acker said. “We had the advantage when we came back here, and we eliminated them from the playoffs.”

Kitsap was eliminated by Bend on Wednesday, Aug. 2 when the Elks scored eight runs in the second inning in an 11-8 loss.

Rather than mire in what might have been, the Jackets decided a little payback was in order, sweeping the Elks at home last weekend to win five of six during the season. Kitsap won 10-3 Friday, 6-4 Saturday and 6-3 Sunday.

And just to make things even sweeter, the closest team Kitsap has to a hated rival, Aloha, also was eliminated by Wenatchee.

“No question,” Acker said when asked if payback was a motivating factor. “But that also helped Wenatchee beat Aloha. But all you can do is win your games, and we did that.”

In Friday’s win, Jamie Nilsen sparked the effort with a 2-5 performance including a double, triple, two runs and three RBIs. Doug Buser was 3-5, Brian Burmester was 2-3 with two runs and Stephen Herzog went 2-5 with a run and two RBIs. Ross Humes got a no decision in his final start, with JT Heaton earning the win.

Saturday, Kitsap got two RBIs each from Max Kwan and Josh Meeker. On Sunday the Jackets jumped out early, scoring four runs in the first inning. Herzog finished 3-4 with 3 RBIs.

The BlueJackets, in just their second season in the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League, showed remarkable improvement this season, improving by nine total games (12 wins). Last year, the Jackets debuted to a 12-24 WCCBL record, while this year they wrap up at 24-18, just three games back of the league’s final playoff spot.

With the Applesox outing Aloha and Kitsap and Bend taking each other out, the WCCBL title will be decided when Spokane and defending champions Wenatchee wrap up the championship series tomorrow and Friday (if necessary). The series began Tuesday, but results were unavailable at press time.

Closer Mike Tachell was unstoppable in the season’s final series, earning the win Saturday behind a two-inning performance that saw Tachell strike out five straight before taking the game’s final batter, Jake Roy, to an 0-2 count before eventually getting him to pop out. Tachell got his fourth save Sunday to finish the season on a high note.

“I got excited,” Tachell said. “I felt like a little kid when I got to 0-2 on him.”

One of just four returning Jackets, Tachell, a 2003 grad from Peninsula High School in Purdy, said he got everything he wanted out of his Kitsap experience.

“It was awesome,” he said. “It ended well. It’s couldn’t have ended much better. I think I did what I needed to do if I’m going to go on to the next level.”

Tachell joined Brian Burmester, Kyle Howe and Kyle Cline as the only returning players from last season’s squad.

Howe, who made his final Jackets appearance on Saturday for a no decision, said he too will miss playing for Kitsap. The North Kitsap grad will play for the University of Reno-Nevada after two successful seasons at Columbia Basin Community College.

“This year, the guys on the team were just team first,” Howe said. “I just wish them all well.”

The players were full of smiles after the sweep, hugging one another before heading over to the Eagle’s Nest for food and drinks. A photo CD displayed images from throughout the Jackets’ best season thus far.

Ultimately, it was that kind of team chemistry that helped Kitsap to the best second-half record in the league.

“There were more talented teams than us,” Acker said. “Aloha was probably the most talented. Bend is probably second. But we just had the most heart.”

Jackets co-owner and general manager Rick Smith said the series was the perfect way to end a successful sophomore campaign, adding that with steady fan support and sponsor support, the team should remain for years to come. The team’s sponsors are listed on the team’s Web site at www.kitsapbluejackets.com.

“I’ll tell you what, I’m kind of sad,” Smith said of the season’s end. “Some of the players we’ve grown to love are not coming back. But I think the highlight from the owners’ point of view besides the playoff run, besides Aloha, besides the long road trip, the really exciting thing is that throughout baseball, the second year of a team in a city is usually lower attendance than the first. We’ve beaten it. We had a third higher attendance than last year.”

Burmester, who led the crowd in his rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch Sunday, said there’s a lot he’ll miss about being a BlueJacket.

“I’m gonna miss the atmosphere, signing autographs after the games,” he said. “I’ll miss the little kids falling on their faces after the dizzy bat game. Everything. It’s a tough place to leave.”

Burmester, who will be a senior at the University of Iowa, is one of 13 players who will not be eligible to return next year. Students must have completed no higher then their junior year of eligibility to play in the WCCBL. Herzog, John Fugett, Kwan, Ted Gjeldum (who started and won Sunday’s finale), Kevin Corrigan, Adam Brown, Anje Sramek, Cline, Tachell, Seth Foley and Justin Larkin will all be heading into their senior seasons.

Herzog was another who was particularly fond of his time spent with the BlueJackets. After not playing for two years, Herzog used the summer league to prepare for a new baseball life with Charelston Southern University.

“It’s a great feeling,” Herzog said of hitting two triples in the final game. “I can’t say enough about these guys. Being back after not playing for two years, all the coaches really worked with me this season. It was an amazing experience. It’s a summer I’ll never forget.”