Wednesday night on the Battleford Flats marked opening day of the Battlefords Ladies' Fastball League playoffs, and it didn't disappoint.
The Unity Midget Panthers were the team to beat as they went undefeated through the regular season and looked to keep the streak alive.
Their first matchup was against the Edam Ladies, who finished the season with a 4-6-2 record. Having rolled over most of their regular season opponents, the odds were certainly in Unity's favour. Edam wasn't about to let the fact that they were the underdogs get in their heads as they gave the Panthers all they could handle.
It looked like a blowout early as Unity stormed out of the gate with a 4-0 lead after the first inning. Edam was able to score a run of their own in the second before the Panthers hit the field again to add three runs, extending the lead to 7-1 after two innings.
Edam scored three runs in the third and three more in the fourth to tie the game up. With all the momentum, it looked like an upset was in the works, but Unity showed why they are the best team in the league. The Panthers put up three runs of their own in the fourth inning and held on to win 10-7 in the first game of a double-header.
In between games MVP awards were handed out to one player from each team. Maidstone's MVP was Laurel Pauls. Shannon Lamb took the honours for the Survivors. Dana Gard won for Edam. Shelby Solomko and Allison Cey were co-winners for the Unity Midgets. Jayden Akerlund was the Unity Bantams' top player. For the Battleford Midgets it was Keinyn Norden and for the Battleford Bantams was Kirsty Kindrachuk.
Once the awards were handed out the teams hit the field once again. The Unity Midgets had an easier time in their second game. They were taking on the Battleford Bantam Bandits who won their first game against the Battlefords Midgets.
Unity's offence struck early and often. The Panthers scored one run in the first inning, but Battleford's run in the second tied things up.
Once again Unity found themselves in a game that was up for grabs and they grabbed it. In the third inning, the Panthers added two runs, followed by one more in the fourth to put them up 4-1. Going into the fifth inning with just a three run lead, the Panthers knew their lead wasn't safe, so they added to it. Scoring three runs in their half of the inning gave them a comfortable six run lead that would take a massive collapse to lose.
Battleford fought hard, but could only muster a single run in the inning. It was a valiant effort against a team that hasn't been merciful all summer.
After day one of playoffs the Unity Midgets were the only team with a 2-0 record. The Battleford Midgets are 1-1, so are the Battleford Bantams and the Survivors. Maidstone is 1-0, because there is an odd number of teams in the league, Maidstone and the Unity Bantams, who are 0-1, played only one game each Wednesday. Finally, Edam finished the day with an 0-2 record, misleading given their near victory over Unity.
Teams are back in action Monday. The Unity Bantams will face the Survivors with the winner taking on Maidstone next Wednesday. The Battleford Bantams and Midgets will square off against each other, with the Unity Midgets taking on the winner, also next Wednesday. All of those games start at 7 p.m.
