The Sundre Stealers U-14 girls’ squad's silver medal finish at the Softball Alberta Provincial Tournament hosted in Medicine Hat was well deserved, said a coach.
“These girls never quit,” said Cody Jackson during a phone interview.
“They played exceptionally well.”
There were 10 teams competing at provincials in Medicine Hat from July 12 to 14. Taking the top spot was the Sylvan Lake Storm, the only team that defeated the Stealers at the tournament, said Jackson, who coached in coordination with Tim Kennedy, Jenna Packer and Lyndsay Stange.
“It was all pretty solid ball. Most of the games were quite close.”
The girls played a total of six games, starting with round robin play on Friday. They won their first game against Lethbridge, but were unable to take the lead against Sylvan Lake during the second game, he said.
“We were way behind but brought it back for just a one-point loss.”
Winning the next two games on the Saturday against Edmonton and St. Paul secured for the Stealers a shot at the finals, he said.
The first match on the Sunday was a real “nail-biter against Didsbury, who’s been gunning for us all year,” he said, adding the Stealers managed to clinch the semifinal victory by a score of 11-10.
That brought the girls back up against Sylvan Lake for the final.
“We had a second chance at them but they were pretty strong — they were actually playing better quality ball all year,” said the coach, adding the Storm won 16-9.
Last month the girls placed first in the zone playoffs, which were held in Didsbury, to qualify for provincials. Seven teams competed in that tournament, and the top two — Sundre and Didsbury — proceeded to playoffs, he said.
Michele Blackhurst, a coordinator for Sundre minor ball girls’ teams, said there were two U-14 squads this year that were combined to play in provincials. For the most part, the same group of girls, Blackhurst and Jackson pointed out, won gold at provincials last year as a U-12 team.
“They’re just getting old enough now that they understand the game and the plays, and have fun doing it,” said Jackson.
All but one of the players were first-year U-14 this season and they will again play under the same banner next year, he said, adding the team could potentially end up playing in a higher level within that age category.
“It’s incredible how much they’ve improved,” he said, adding most of the girls have been playing together for the better part of the past five or six years.
“It’s exciting ball now, and they plan on sticking together,” said Jackson.
“It’s only gonna get better.”
Brief minor ball season recap
With provincials done and several recent tournaments wrapped up, the season is essentially over. There were five girls’ softball teams and nine boys’ baseball teams in Sundre this year, Stacey Johnson, the association’s president, previously said.
“We hosted the Mosquito and Peewee Chinook League West Tournaments in Sundre,” said Johnson, adding the boys’ Peewee 1 got gold and Peewee 2 got silver for their league tournaments last month. Additionally, Mosquito Blue got silver while Mosquito Red got bronze, she said.
Meanwhile, the Rookie Red boys’ team won gold in the Chinook West League Tournament hosted in Carstairs in early June, and Rookie Blue got bronze.
The U-10 girls were also previously in a one-day tournament and won both of their games that day, she said.
