Pee Wee Astros Win Westerns!
August 8, 2010
Congratulations to the Prince Albert Lake Boyz Pee Wee A Astros! They have won the Western Canadian Champioship in Strathmore, Alberta.
Aces win Western Canadian midget title
PA Daily Herald Story
August 3
By John MacNeil
The Prince Albert Aces are made of gold.
A month after winning the provincial championship, the Aces captured the Western Canadian midget B girls’ softball crown Monday in Unity, Sask.
And they did so in style, winning three straight games on the final day of the four-day tournament, including a 1-0 victory over the Winnipeg Smitty’s 92s in the final.
Outstanding defence carried the Aces in the playoff round.
“We played errorless ball today,” coach Jenn Ferguson said as the Prince Albertans celebrated Monday afternoon. “No errors — 19 clean innings. It was amazing.
“Lori Earl pitched all 19 innings that we played today. She had a day off (Sunday), so that was good. It worked out.”
In the final, Rae Engele scored the lone run in the third inning. She singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Shanelle Turner’s two-out double.
The Aces kicked off their string of Monday games with a 7-0 win over the Winnipeg Angels in a game reduced to five innings because of the mercy rule. Prince Albert went on to post a 4-1 victory over the Ridge Meadows Rage of British Columbia. The Rage had lost to Winnipeg Smitty’s on Sunday in a one-versus-two playoff game that sent the 92s straight to Monday’s final.
Prince Albert finished round-robin play in fourth place, with a 4-2 record.
“We used our players strategically and got into the playoffs, which was our goal,” said Ferguson, whose Aces opened the nine-team tournament with three games Friday.
“All of the top five teams were close. It could have gone to anyone.”
A rain delay Sunday night forced the Aces into a tight three-game schedule Monday, with starts at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
“We really got stronger as the weekend went,” Ferguson said. “We had a very good start, beating the Winnipeg Angels 6-0 in our first game. We scored all six runs in the sixth inning.
“We lost our second game, but (the girls) didn’t give up. They kept playing hard, and we came back in the third game that day and won 6-1 over the host team, Unity.”
The Aces achieved their Saturday goal of going 2-0 and improving to 4-1.That included an extra-inning win over the South Delta (B.C.) Invaders on Saturday night.
“That was probably the turning point of our tournament,” said Ferguson, a teacher at Carlton Comprehensive High School. “We were losing 3-0, and we got two runs in the sixth (inning), and then we went back out on defence in the bottom half of the sixth and made two amazing plays.
“Our second baseman (Lacey Pilon) caught a line drive that she had no business getting to. And then, a ground ball was hit to our third baseman (Brooke Mutch) and it deflected off her glove, right into our (shortstop Turner’s) glove, and she made the out. That seemed to wake us up. We ended up tying it in the seventh and winning it in the eighth.”
In their only game Sunday, the Aces lost to Smitty’s in a morning matchup of the eventual finalists. Prince Albert rested Earl in anticipation of a playoff game Sunday night, but rain halted evening action.
“We ended up losing 2-1 in extra innings,” Ferguson said. “We played phenomenal, and our backup pitcher, Kelsey Rusnell, pitched an amazing game.”
Earl was a strikeout king in her midget swan song, recording four round-robin victories. She added three playoff wins Monday on what was a holiday in name only.
“We were on the ball field from 8 (a.m.) till 2 (p.m.) straight,” Ferguson said after Monday’s marathon.
“What really helped us this morning was that we beat the Angels in five innings, so we had a little bit longer of a rest than we had anticipated. And that was maybe the difference in that last game.”
About half of the 15 players on Prince Albert’s roster are in their final year of midget eligibility.
Two of the graduating Aces, Earl and catcher Megan Bourdon, have more ball in store for this week.
Regina has picked them up for the Canadian junior A women’s championship, which begins today in Saskatoon.
Softball Sask Intro to Excellence Camp
INTRODUCTION TO EXCELLENCE
Welcome to Softball Saskatchewan’s 3rd Annual Intro to Excellence Camp!! This camp is for female and male players born in 1995, 1996, 1997 & 1998. Those interested are to send their application form, along with a $70.00 registration fee to Softball Saskatchewan by the July 30th, 2010 deadline. We will not accept late registrations for this camp!
Softball Saskatchewan’s Intro to Excellence Camp will be held concurrently in both Saskatoon & Regina on August 21st & 22nd! This program is intended to provide players with a mix of Skill Development (6 hours), Sport Science (2 hours of Exercise Physiology & nutrition) and 2 Competitions. All players at the camp will receive a camp t-shirt. Softball Saskatchewan will select 1 team from the each age group (unless lack of numbers dictates the joining of age groups) to be invited to a 2nd camp to be held in Regina on September 11 & 12 weekend. At that camp - the teams will be randomly mixed again, to enhance your softball experience and total player development!! The 2nd camp will also have 6 hours of Skill Development (pitching, catching, hitting & positional play), 2 hours of Sport Science (Mental preparation & Exercise Physiology) and 2 Competitions to showcase your skills!
This camp follows the Softball Canada Long-Term Player Development Guide in the Training to Train (T2T) Stage. The athletes will be receiving the best available instruction from up to date sources. The focus of this camp is to develop our players and coaches further by providing them with opportunities to increase their skill level. This is done by; extending their softball season, introducing them to outside instructors (teaches them something new or reinforces their teaching methods), and introducing the players, coaches and parents to the Sport Science and Medicine Consultants. For more information - please contact Jacqueline at the Softball Saskatchewan office @ 780-9235 or jac@softball.sk.ca
