The Flats in Battleford played host to the 2014 Under 18 Western Canadian Fastpitch Championships last weekend.
The Battleford Midget Girls Bandits, who finished in first place during the regular season of the Battlefords and District Ladies Fastball League, were the host team for the four-day event. They finished the weekend 1-5, with their only win coming in a 9-1 victory over Alberta's Killam Thunder.
In the championship of the nine-team girls' draw, British Columbia's Cordova Bay Blackout shut out the Saskatoon Autologics Selects 7-0. It was a rematch of Cordova Bay's closest round robin game, which the Blackout won 6-5. They won all of their other games by five runs or more.
The Blackout won all six games in the round robin to finish first in the standings. They beat Manitoba's Southern Bandits 10-3 in the page playoffs to earn a bye to the finals.
The Selects finished 3-3 in the round robin, losing two games by a one-run margin. In the tiebreaker to qualify for the playoffs, Saskatoon doubled up Alberta's Marwayne Rohan Renegades 6-3 to finish fourth. The Selects then beat British Columbia's Surrey Storm and the Southern Bandits to reach the final.
In the boys' draw of seven teams, Ontario's Napanee Express downed Alberta's Irma Tigers 17-8 to claim the championship. In their previous meeting in the tournament, the Express edged the Tigers 5-4.
The Express had a perfect 6-0 record in the round robin, claiming top spot in the standings. They scored nine runs or more in five of their six games. Napanee defeated British Columbia's Fraser Valley Vipers 11-2 to earn a bye into the finals.
The Tigers placed third in the standings following the round robin with a 4-2 record. En route to the finals in the page playoffs, Irma defeated Saskatchewan's Conquest Coyotes and the Vipers in the semifinal.
The championship game on both sides were pushed to late Monday afternoon due to heavy rain Sunday night.
