The Estevan Southeast Elite 16-and-under softball team is looking for a return to provincial glory this summer.
The Elite, which includes players from Carlyle, Carnduff, Alameda and Estevan, recently showed the strides they've made by capturing a silver medal at the Sharon Knott Memorial Tournament in Regina from May 27 to 29. The travelling provincial team began the tourney by beating Pilot Butte 19-9, downing the Regina Fighting Saints 16-10 and shutting out the Saskatoon Raiders 7-0 in round-robin play. The Elite then doubled up the Weyburn Wild 8-4 in the tournament semifinal before falling 10-1 to the Prince Albert (PA) Aces in the A-side final.
Mike Wilson, coach of the Elite, said the southeast team was actually only trailing the Aces 2-1 after four innings and had two great opportunities to jump ahead by loading the bases twice with one out, but couldn't manage the timely hit. He said PA then started hitting into holes and coupled with a few Elite errors ran up the score.
Tournament play and exhibition games make up the Elite's regular season as the team doesn't play in a league. The team is comprised of select members of Estevan house league softball teams whose goal is to ultimately win the 2016 Softball Saskatchewan championship at a July 15-17 tournament in Regina.
Wilson said the Elite draws interest from girls wanting to play and compete at the next level. He said the competition is high calibre in provincial softball with each team having strong pitching, hitting and fielding talent.
“We have a young team,” said Wilson. “We only have three returning starters from winning the provincials two years ago, so it's a new group. We're trying to learn to gel together. We need to start learning to hit the ball and all those good things that come with a new team.”
The Elite will get their next chance to practise their skills and challenge themselves against strong competition this weekend at a Moose Jaw Ice tournament, which will feature some of the same clubs that played in the Sharon Knott Memorial Tournament including the PA Aces. Wilson said the hope is these many tournament and exhibition games help them gear up for a championship summer.
“We'd like to compete definitely,” he said. “Our goal is to make playoffs and challenge for the provincial title with an opportunity to go to the Western Canadians. That's held in St. Albert, Alberta, July 27 to 30.”
