TISDALE — The Tisdale U16 B Riverdogs placed second at their own tournament, while the Melfort Spirit placed fourth.
The Riverdogs won four out of five games in round robin at the June 23 and 24 tournament, and then were defeated by Biggar in the A final.
“Our kids peaked when they needed to peak and they just kind of out hit us,” said Renée Simoneau, the Riverdogs’ head coach. “This has actually been the best tournament we’ve been to all season as far as competition and it’s been really good to compete at home and not have to go out of town for a tournament.”
The Spirit won two out of five games and were defeated by the Humboldt Thunder in the B final.
Simoneau said the tournament was a boost as they prepare for provincials.
“I think this really ramped us up as far as confidence,” she said, adding the team got beat up in an A tournament last week in Melfort. “Going into B provincials, this really solids us up. We’re excited. Ten days of practice and prep and we’ll be ready to go.”
The head coach said organizing the tournament was fantastic, with the diamonds in great shape, help from umpires in Melfort and little rain – despite it threatening to do so all weekend. Despite the fact that the senior, U14 and U12 teams were out of town, meaning a major source of volunteers were away, the community came together to pull it off.
“We hope to grow this tournament to make it an annual Riverdog run and have all age groups.”
