The White House Mortgage Gators bowed 18-17 in extra innings to Kelowna Razz in Sunday morning’s playoff round of the SPN Women’s Slo-Pitch qualifying tournament in Kelowna.
The Gators are a C team and faced A/B teams in the 12-team playdowns. They still qualify for the provincials Labour Day Weekend in Vernon, hoping to get placed in the appropriate division.
“We wanted it bad and fought hard, going into extra innings with international rules (teams start the inning with a runner on second base),” said Michelle Embleton of the Gators.
Both teams chipped away one inning at a time with the Razz leading 14-10 after four. The Razz had last bats and scored three runs to level the score 17-17. The Gators stranded a runner at third in their half of the extra inning.
“Overall, it was a good weekend and some very good ball. We gave it our all, used everyone on the bench, and look forward to participating in the provincials,” added Embleton.
After round-robin play, the Gators were sixth and opened the A pool playoffs by falling 14-10 to Kelowna Icandy, national B runners-up last year.
Shaina McGiverin went 3-for-3 with two RBI against the Icandy, while Jennifer Thatcher was 3-for-4 and Kate Carter, Jen Doyle and Shelly Ouellette all supplied two hits.
The Gators opened preliminary play by losing 27-11 to the defending national B champion Kelowna Fusion.
Linda Castonguay drove in three runs on three hits, while Terri-Rose Thompson was 3-for-3 with two RBI and Kate Carter was 3-for-3 with one RBI.
The White House crew then ambushed Kelowna BTN 24-4 by exploding for 14 runs in the first inning. McGiverin knocked in four runs on three hits, Thatcher was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Castonguay was 2-for-2 three runs.
Also representing the Gators: Brittany Housego, Courtney Bissell, Jacqueline Rivard, Jennifer Ternier, Jessica Hallam, Leigha Stenhouse, Taryn Robertson and Tiffany Disher.
