Some of the best young softball players in B.C. gathered at Evans Park last weekend for the U14A provincial championships.
Although there were no Cowichan Valley teams in the competition, there was no shortage of local content as two Duncan RiverCats players suited up for Victoria teams, one of which was coached by an experienced Duncan duo.
U14B RiverCats player Katie Murphy joined the Victoria Devils 2002 team, which was coached by Duncan’s own Stan McKinlay and Brian Bull, and Murphy’s RiverCats teammate Brooklyn Lang played in the tournament for the Victoria Devils 2003 squad.
Murphy played with the Victoria team in 2015, then played most of this season with her hometown RiverCats, so she wasn’t unfamiliar with her teammates last weekend.
“It was lots of fun,” she said. “I really like my teammates. They’re nice to be around.”
Murphy was pleased with her own play over the weekend.
“I think I did pretty good,” she said. “I didn’t make too may mistakes, I guess.”
The Devils 2002 team was one of eight to make the playoffs out of round-robin play, while the 2003 squad was one of four to miss the medal around.
Finishing first in the tournament were the White Rock Renegades 02, who beat the Surrey Storm 02 in the gold-medal game. The Ridge Meadows Pride 03 took bronze over the Tri City Titans 02.
Tournament director Ron McKinlay noted that without a host team from Duncan in the tournament, many of those duties fell to a local baseball team.
“The peewee AAA Cowichan Valley Mustangs kids and parents all did the volunteer work, and they did an excellent job,” he said.
The peewee Mustangs will host their own provincial tournament at Evans Park on Aug. 4-7.
Bull and McKinlay, who coached the Victoria Devils 02 team, are leading the Island team that will compete at the BC Summer Games in Abbotsford this weekend. In mid August, they will take the 2002 Devils — including Murphy — to Winnipeg for the national U14 championships. Murphy is excited to be going.
“I haven’t seen many of the teams yet, but I’m pretty sure we can do very well,” she said.
