Two Quesnel softball teams ended their season with silver linings after attending provincials late last month.
The U16 and U19 teams had a busy weekend July 17-18.
In Kamloops, the smoky skies cleared for the U16, who played five games on Sunday but ended up losing the gold match to Langford, said head coach Ryan McTavish.
“Our girls ran out of gas,” he said with a chuckle. “Too many games and it was 35 degrees Celsius, so it was a pretty hot day for them. They were pretty smoked by the end of it.”
It was the first tournament since COVID-19 for the 13 players from Quesnel who were joined by a pitcher from Trail.
Over the weekend, they had ran into their rivals from Prince George three times.
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“We had had a close game in the first game of the playoffs, and it turned out to be a really good game,” McTavish said.
“We were down five runs and back to win the game. We got four runs in the last inning.”
Like McTavish, U19 coach Debbie Telford was pleased to see the rolled-back COVID-19 restrictions in which there were cheering fans and no face masks.
The ten players were quickly thrown together and had minimal practices and games played as a team.
“So the girls dug deep and worked their heart out,” Telford said, noting they were also great listeners at the provincials in Langford.
“Their hard work, attitude and sportsmanship was really over the top.”
The girls would play the eventual gold-winning team from Victoria three times that weekend—all of the games were nail biters, added Telford.
After the final game, the two teams went to the field for a group photo.
“I think that really says a lot about both teams,” Telford said.
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