You had the A squad, a team with pitching depth and hitting acumen that had pushed them to a 10-3-1 record so far this season, including a 14-1 win over Gravelbourg earlier in the day.
The B team had run into a bit of adversity in their most recent games, including a 2-3 record in contests over the weekend.
And sure enough, the A Ice would roar out to a quick lead, scoring the maximum five runs in quick fashion and taking a 5-0 edge out of the first.
But then Avery Funke stepped into the circle, and things became very interesting, very quickly.
Funke would go toe-to-toe with A Ice standouts Kensington Demassi and Kiarra Adrian over three innings, allowing only two hits and striking out eight to keep things close. Each team would score a run in the sixth, but that would be the extent of the offence as the A Ice would take the 6-1 win.
Demassi wouldn’t allow a hit and struck out four in two innings, Adrian gave up a single hit and struck out five. Marisa Montgomery took over in the fifth and allowed the lone B team run on a single hit in the second; Avery Garthus closed things out with a pair of strikeouts in the final inning.
Sophia Johnstone started on the mound for the B Ice and allowed the five runs on five hits and two walks, with Maddie Cruz taking over from Funke in the fifth and giving up a run and a hit while striking out three. Aurora Wingenbach pitched a scoreless seventh.
Montgomery and Zoey Chesney each finished 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI for the A Ice, with Chesney and Gracelyn Blanchard each hitting triples.
Georgia Fowler and Joelle Boechler had hits for the B Ice.
The U12 A Ice are back in action tonight when they travel to Regina to face the Royals Geiss, while the U12 B Ice take on are also in action Tuesday against the Royals.
U12A Ice 14, Gravelbourg 1
The Ice found themselves nursing a 2-1 lead after three innings, but would score five runs in the fourth and fifth to take a 12-1 lead and the eventual mercy-rule victory.
Chesney and Rachel Ward each had solid games at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, while Montgomery, Adrian and Peyton Klemenz all scored two runs each.
Each Ice pitcher tossed two innings, with Montgomery giving up an unearned run and striking out three, Adrian a single and four strikeouts, Demassi a single and three Ks.
Estevan 12, U12B Ice 8
A five-run rally in the fifth gave the Ice an 8-7 lead, but Estevan would put up a max inning of their own in the sixth to secure the victory.
The Ice had only two hits in the game – with Chloe Giraudier and Wingenbach doing the honours – and took advantage of nine walks.
Johnstone, Funke, Wingenbach and Cruz all saw action in the circle.
U12B Ice 10, Gravelbourg 5
The Ice gained a measure of revenge after losing to Gravelbourg earlier in the season, building a 9-2 lead through three innings and never looking back.
Fowler had a solid showing at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run and four RBI. Funke scored a pair of runs.
Funke got the start and allowed two runs on four hits with four strikeouts in two innings, Cruz allowed a run on three hits and Wingenbach closed things out, giving up a run on a single hit, walking five and striking out five.
