They might not have been able to secure the gold medal on home soil, but it was still a solid weekend for three Moose Jaw teams as hosts of the Softball Sask Open Women’s provincial championship this weekend at Eddy Moore Park.
Both the Heat and Strikers advanced to the semifinals on Sunday afternoon, while the Hustlers also advanced to the playoffs but lost in the quarter-final.
The Strikers finished in first place in their pool with a 2-1 record, thanks to a 12-7 win over the Hustlers in the tournament opener and 10-3 victory over the West Central Black Ice. They dropped a 6-5 decision to the Saskatoon Senior Eclipse in their final game, but still took top spot in the Green Pool.
That sent the Strikers straight to the semifinal, where they’d fall 8-1 to the Regina Rampage.
After losing their opener 5-3 to the Rampage, the Heat would win two of the next three to finish second in their round robin pool. That included an 8-7 come-from-behind win over the Saskatoon Fury, 15-5 victory over the Saskatoon Lunar Eclipse and 7-1 loss to the Redvers Foxy Sox to close out the round robin.
Their 2-2 record was good enough to land a semifinal berth, where they’d run into the Hustlers and end up in an absolute battle, taking an 11-10 victory.
That sent the Heat to the semifinal, where they’d fall 4-2 to the Lunar Eclipse.
The Hustlers recovered nicely from their opening loss to the Strikers, taking an 8-7 win over the Senior Eclipse and 9-3 win over the West Central to finish 2-1 and book their quarterfinal berth.
