Every winning team likes to think they have resiliency on their side, the ability to rally when things are down and find ways to win games that look like they might be out of reach.
You won’t find a team that fit that category better than the Moose Jaw U17 A Ice during the Moose Jaw and District Girls ‘A’ Fastball Tournament this past weekend.
The event featured the top teams from Saskatchewan in three age divisions battling it out at Optimist Park and Caribou Heights diamonds, with the U17 Ice and U13 Ice both reaching their respective finals.
The U17 crew found themselves in a host of epic battles along the way before eventually taking a 6-5 victory over the Regina Saints to win the gold medal.
And like they did all weekend, the Ice did it in comeback style, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.
“That’s what they’ve been doing this whole tournament, in three of our games we had to come back in the last inning to win,” said Ice head coach Paul Litzenberger. “All the girls did so well, they have fun and rally around each other and that’s awesome. It’s nice to see them not only grow as ball players but as people, so they’ve been doing really well.”
Moose Jaw trailed 5-4 heading into the seventh, but managed to load the bases with back-to-back walks to Haily Molde and Camryn Rusu and a single by Jasmine Kohl. Ashley Breitkreuz then singled to bring home Molde with the tying run and one batter later, Callie Klemenz singled home Rusu with the winning run.
It was the second game in a row Klemenz had come through with the big hit, with her triple in the seventh against Lumsden in the semifinal giving Moose Jaw an 8-7 win.
Ava Unser was the winning pitcher in the final, allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out 12 in the complete-game victory.
The Ice went undefeated through the weekend, opening with a 4-3 win over the Saints before defeating the Prince Albert Aces 9-8 and Tisdale Riverdogs 9-1 to finish first in their pool.
The tournament win was the second straight for the Ice, and came without two of their top players in Katie Newberry and Makena Simmons, who had Team Sask Canada Games duties to attend to.
And with that, they’re automatically one to watch for provincials in a few weeks time.
“With this U17 level, there are 11 teams in the province and there are for sure seven or eight that could win provincials,” Litzenberger said. “I like to think we’re in that conversation, but it's weekends like these that prepare you for that level and, win or lose, playing these games is going to make you resilient.”
The U13 A Ice continued their solid season but were upset in the title game by the Regina Saints, falling 3-2 after scoring a pair of runs in the final inning and having the tying run in scoring position.
The Ice defeated the Lumsden Cubs 11-9 to open the weekend before downing White Butte 16-6 and falling 8-1 to Meadow Lake in their final round-robin game. Moose Jaw then took an 8-4 win over the Regina Lazers to advance to the final.
The U15 A Ice didn’t have as much luck on their side, as they dropped their opening game 7-5 to the Lumsden Cubs before losing a 10-3 decision to the Regina Saints. They capped their tournament on a positive note, taking a 10-3 win over the Regina Royals in their final round-robin game.
The Regina Lazers defeated the Melfort Spirit 7-5 to win the U15 A division.
