It's been an incredible season for the Olds Pistols girls' U-12 softball team.
They not only won the Girls Prairie League Softball (GPLS) B division with a perfect 14-0 record, but followed that up by winning the bronze medal in A division provincials in Calgary, after triumphing in a hard-fought 16-14 win over St. Albert in extra innings July 8.
Head coach Steven Martinson says that extra innings win (in the eighth) was especially sweet, given that St. Albert went into the tournament as the top seed, having lost only one game all season and having won the tournament previously.
The (GPLS) B division was a challenge in itself, as it featured teams from Calgary, St. Albert and into Saskatchewan.
Martinson describes the team's experience in the A provincials as "amazing."
"We came up against two real strong teams in our draw right off the bat," he says.
The Pistols lost their first two games in the tournament and finished the round robin portion in fourth place with a 2-2 record.
The bronze medal game against St. Albert was thrilling.
"We were tied at 13. Then we scored three in extra innings and they scored one. And our pitcher (Abby Maetche) shut 'em down," Martinson says.
Maetche was credited with the win.
She started the game and was brought back in to close it.
Martinson was pleased with the way the Pistols never gave up.
"Our girls battled hard like that throughout provincials and the league," he says. "We kind of pride ourselves on being a very aggressive team on the base paths.
"And notably in provincials, we had contributions from all our lineup, not just the top of our order. We had runs manufactured from everywhere in our lineup -- top to bottom."
Defence was also key, especially when it came to pitching.
"Our pitchers really came to play. They did an amazing job, all of them. We ran up to six pitchers throughout the year and they all worked really, really hard and battled," Martinson says.
"We were in a very fortunate position. A lot of teams, they only have one or two pitchers they can go to, and I was comfortable going to six of them."
"That's what really won it for us is that we had a whole team contributing to the win," he adds.
Martinson is grateful not only for the work ethic shown by his team but also for the contributions from assistant coaches Jordan Cleland, Jo Grover and Jason Jaffray.
"We all had a job to do and I think they did an amazing job all year long," he says.
