The first tournament for the new Southside Slammers U16 female fastpitch team was a good one.
The Slammers took second at the Regina Early Bird Tournament on May 13 and 14. They went 2-1 in the round-robin to start the tournament, defeating the White Butte Storm 16-7 and the Regina Royals 12-9, but dropping an 11-0 decision against the Regina Royals.
In the semifinal, the Slammers edged the Winnipeg Lightning 4-3, thanks to error-free defensive play and a complete game pitched by Joelle Lamontagne.
The Slammers faced the Royals for a second time in the final, and lost 6-3.
“We have some quality players,” said coach Trent Walter. “We thought that maybe the gelling together would take a little longer, but they’re a team. There’s no doubt about that.”
Players come from Estevan, Alameda, Oxbow, Arcola, Weyburn and Balgonie to play on the team. Practices are held in Estevan.
Walter said they started looking at the possibility of forming an A-level fastpitch team for this region just before Christmas last year.
“We sent out invites to individuals we knew, and then had tryouts starting in January,” said Walter. “We had four tryouts, and narrowed the team down to this group. We were having practices indoors up until the weather was conducive to get out onto the diamonds, and we’ve been going full-steam since then.”
Shortly after the tryouts and watching the talent that was available, he knew they would do good things.
“Maybe this success is a little sooner than we thought, but they just gelled together so well, they get along so well, and everybody’s supporting each other,” said Walter.
Their first games were on May 11 in Regina. They defeated the Lumsden Cubs 11-8 but lost to the Lazers 8-1. Then they had the tournament last weekend.
They were also slated to play the Regina Royals and White Butte on Thursday. (Results were not available at press time).
The Slammers will have their first home games on Monday against the Lazers at the Pleasantdale Softball Diamonds at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Those are the only league games scheduled for Estevan this season.
They will also host a tournament from July 21 to 23. The tournament will occur two weeks after provincials in Saskatoon, and it will also be a tuneup for nationals in Delta, B.C., from Aug. 9 to 13.
