ESTEVAN - The Pleasantdale Softball Diamonds will have lots of activity from July 12-14, as 21 teams will be competing at the Softball Saskatchewan U13 B Girls Championship.
Becca Foord, a coach and board member with Estevan Minor Softball, said the games will start in the morning of July 12, and the games will continue until the gold-medal game in the afternoon of July 14.
The Estevan B Elite will be competing. The club is comprised of players from Estevan's house league teams.
"They signed up for house ball, and there were tryouts for provincials," said Foord. "And so, the provincial team was picked and … then we actually picked our house league [teams] so we didn't accidentally stack a whole entire house team with provincial players. So, there was a mix of provincial players on all three U13 house ball teams."
The Elite will open provincials by playing the Southeast SuperNovas at 8 a.m. and the Saskatoon Hustlers at 6:30 p.m. on July 12. Then the following day, they will play the Meadow Lake Sox at noon and the Regina Royals Rockers at 6:30 p.m.
The 21 teams will be divided into pools with at least five teams in each. One pool has six teams. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the championship round.
Quarter-final games will start at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. on July 14. The semifinal round is at 12:30 p.m., and the gold and bronze medal games are at 2:30 p.m.
"It's going to be great softball. At our U13 house tournament, we had one kid – I'm going to brag because she's on my team – but she hit the ball over the [outfield] fence in two separate games that weekend, which is absolutely unheard in U13.
"The calibre of this age group right now is absolutely unreal. We have so many great coaches across the province that have been helping these kids be the absolute best that they can be."
The opening ceremonies will include the teams marching in, speeches from dignitaries and a ceremonial first pitch.
Foord said their biggest need is for volunteers to work at the front gate and in the concession, to help with scorekeeping, and to serve with grounds maintenance between the games, ensuring the diamonds are in good shape for the next games.
More information on volunteer registration can be found on the Signup Genius website.
Foord estimates they have about 200 volunteer shifts for the three days, and about 50 of them that have already been filled.
This is the first time Estevan has hosted a softball provincial tournament since 2018, and prior to that, Estevan held provincials in 2015.
"We've got some big shoes to fill from those tournaments, because those were really successful, but we're really excited and it's going to be a really great weekend," said Foord.
She said Estevan Minor Softball has a lot of sponsors that have stepped forward to support the tournament, and Foord predicts the tournament will have a considerable economic spinoff.
"I'm really looking forward to also seeing how much this impacts our community, because 21 teams with 13 or 14 kids, and all of their parents, is going to be huge for Estevan for a weekend."
