UNITY – A total of 31 teams competed in the U15 B provincials in Saskatoon July 12-14. With eight pools in the tournament, we were matched up with the Saskatoon Lasers, Regina Royals and Southeast Supernovas.
To start the tournament off we won 13-7 against Saskatoon. The girls battled hard and came out on top. Kali Scherr hit a grand slam midway through the game which really helped. We had minimal errors, and everyone did their part and contributed to the game.
On Saturday morning, we were up against the Southeast Supernovas and that was one of the most exciting games of the tournament. The lead went back and forth and in the end the Supernovas ended up winning 16-15.
We then went on to beat Regina 17-1 in a game we needed to win by four because we were in a three-way tie. After that win, we knew we punched our ticket to Championship Sunday. I told the girls to be proud of themselves, this is a huge accomplishment. Most kids don’t get to play on Sunday and every year, the Unity Panthers usually find a way to get there.
The crossover game was against the Storm Twisters out of Pilot Butte/ White City, we won 20-2 and made it to the semifinals.
Our semifinal was against the Moose Jaw Ice, the reigning provincial champions. We took a 10-1 loss; it seemed their bats were really working for them and they had a great pitcher that we had a hard time hitting.
In the Bronze medal game, we faced the Biggar Nationals. Earlier in the year we ended up winning 7-3 against them. This time, it was Biggar on top. They made minimal errors and hit the ball in the holes. We had a few errors and struggled a bit at the plate. It’s tough when you play three games back-to-back.
At the end of the day, our team had some ups and downs on the season, but these young ladies never gave up. To finish fourth out of 31 teams is a huge accomplishment. Alivia Suchan and Taryn Pernitsky batted .588 and .526 and constantly advanced runners all weekend long. They all have a bright future ahead of them and it was an honour to coach them and be a part of this team.
