UNITY —
Ten teams, 128 players, 39 coaches, many volunteers and numerous parents, grandparents and other spectators descended upon the Unity ball diamonds for the Softball Saskatchewan U15 B Girls’ North Provincial Championship, July 11, 12 and 13.
Melfort Spirit were the ultimate winners, going through the tournament undefeated and winning the gold medal game 9-2 over the Twin City Angels, from Warmen/Martensville.
In the bronze medal game, familiar rivals Unity Panthers and Macklin Lakers played to a 12-5 victory for the Lakers.
After round robin play, the Lakers were in third place in their pool, with two wins and two losses. Their first game Sunday was against the second-place team in the opposing pool, the Maidstone Lakers. It was a close game that had spectators on the edge of their seats. Macklin emerged with a 7-6 win.
Macklin then played Melfort in a semifinal but had to take a 10-0 loss there after four innings, putting them into the bronze medal game.
Lakers Coach Wade Dean said, “We had a tough start to the weekend losing both games Friday, but the girls didn’t give up and we won both games Saturday which was good enough to get us to Sunday playoffs.”
Dean described the 7-6 quarter-final win over Maidstone as “a very tight game,” going on to say, “In the semis we played a very strong Melfort team … then met Unity in the bronze game which was a battle we ended up winning 12-5.”
The Panthers meanwhile finished first in their pool, losing no games during round robin play. Head Coach Jeremy Wagner described their play in the round robin as “fantastic,” saying they won “all four of our games quite easily.”
Wagner said the girls “were ready for their [quarter-final] game Sunday morning and came out very strong again, beating Parkland to take us to the semifinal game.” The bats were hot, with the Panthers winning that game by a final score of 16-1.
In the semifinal, the Panthers were up against the Twin City Angels. In pool play, the Panthers had beat the Angels 10-1, but in the playoffs they came out with a 12-5 loss, sending them to the bronze medal game against Macklin. Wagner said “We didn’t quite have enough gas in the tank.”
Finishing in fourth place “wasn’t quite the outcome we had hoped for, but I’m very proud of these girls,” said Wagner. “They are a very talented group and it was a pleasure to coach them this season. We had such an awesome year.”
Dean meanwhile concluded his remarks by saying, “On behalf of the Macklin Lakers, I would like to thank all the Unity Panthers, volunteers, organizers and grounds crew. They did a fantastic job hosting at their beautiful facilities.”
Unity once again hosted a successful provincial tournament. There are two more to come: this weekend July 15-18, 15U baseball and next weekend, July 25-27, 13U baseball. Fans are always appreciated.
