MOOSE JAW - The Estevan Elite provincial U15 softball team finished second at a 24-team tournament held in Moose Jaw from June 21-23.
The Elite made it to the final of the competition despite being the eighth seed in the playoffs. Each of the six pool winners advanced to the playoffs, as did two wildcard teams.
Estevan opened with a 10-0 win over the Regina Royals Rivals. Then they fell 13-3 to the Moose Jaw Blazers, but recovered to win 11-3 over Saskatoon's TCA Baht.
Estevan was plus-8 on run differential, which helped them secure the No. 2 wildcard spot.
"Our actual goal, when we were going to this tournament, was to make playoffs, to make it to Sunday [June 24], to make the top eight … so anything after that was a complete bonus," said coach Shawn Madsen.
Estevan played the top-ranked team, the Moose Jaw Gators, in the quarter-final round, and won 7-5.
"So, the girls are absolutely pumped. They feel good. Confidence is going up," said Madsen.
Estevan's next game was against the Blazers, and Estevan won 15-4, with the mercy rule being enforced after five of seven scheduled innings.
Estevan lost 9-5 to the Moose Jaw Warriors in the A final. Madsen noted the Warriors' pitcher consistently throws 100 kilometres per hour from 40 feet out.
"I don't even know if I can hit that [pitch] and here we are, trying to tell our girls to hit that," said Madsen.
Yet Estevan led 3-0 after the first inning. Madsen said the Elite had a great game, but the Warriors deserved to win.
The Estevan players' confidence changed after the first game against the Blazers, he said. They believed they could get hits off of the tough Moose Jaw pitchers.
"You could just see their confidence build at the plate at every at bat, and it just kept on going. There was no fear at all. They just got up to the plate, and they were ready and digging in," said Madsen.
The Estevan entry was comprised of players from Estevan's three U15 house league teams, with five from the Storm, four from the Thunder and three from the Tornadoes. Madsen said there is some really good softball talent in Estevan, and the Elite has young, fast and versatile athletes, with six players who can hit and five who can play catcher.
Estevan is 7-2 to start the year.
"We're doing really good and the girls are playing great," said Madsen.
The Southeast Super Novas also competed at the tournament, going 1-2. They started with a 7-3 loss to the Biggar Nationals, recovered to beat the Regina Royals Rebels 16-6 and lost 10-2 to the Gators.
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The Estevan U15 Thunder came away with the silver medal from the Borderline League's tournament, held June 15 and 16 in Carnduff.
The Thunder fell 15-4 to the Carlyle Cardinals in the championship game. The Thunder opened with a close game against a team from Moosomin, then played another Estevan team, the Estevan Tornadoes, in the semifinal, which guaranteed there would be an Estevan team in the final.
The Thunder won to advance to face the Cardinals in the final.
Carnduff defeated the Estevan Storm in the bronze medal game.
Coach Shawn Madsen noted the Thunder finished first during the regular season with an 8-2 record, but there was a lot of parity in the league. He pointed out Redvers had just one win during the regular season, but Madsen didn't want to face them in the playoffs.
"Any team could beat any team any given night. It just depends on how they show up," said Madsen.
The Carlyle squad that beat them in the final had a strong entry and really good pitching, he said.
Other teams entered were a second entry from Moosomin, Wawota and Kipling.
The Thunder had players from throughout the southeast on their roster, including Oxbow, Lampman, Macoun, Midale and Bienfait.
"This age group has a tremendous group of athletes. When you start splitting your players into three teams, you think you're going to get pretty skimpy [for talent]. We fielded three very competitive teams in this league, which I think is pretty exciting," he said.
