The U16C West Kootenay Rebels fastball team were perfect on the weekend, capturing gold at the BC Girls Softball Championship in Quesnel.
A thrilling semifinal comeback victory over the Central Saanich Extreme, set the stage for the Rebels gold medal win over the same Extreme team.
The Rebels fell behind 6-3 heading into the top of the seventh inning in Sunday’s semifinal. The Extreme added four more runs to make it 10-3 going into Rebels last at bat. But the West Kootenay battled to stay alive in the bottom of the seventh and scored eight runs to win the game 11-10 and advance to the gold medal final.
After the Exteme won their B-side match, they faced the Rebels again in the gold medal game. This time, the Rebels got on the board first for a 2-0 lead in the third inning and didn’t look back.
The Extreme put one on the board in the fifth, but the Rebels answered with four of their own to go up 6-1 heading into the sixth. CS Extreme scored one but the Rebels replied again with three more runs to end the final game with a 9-2 win, the gold medal and a Provincial Championship Banner.
The West Kootenay team includes players from Trail, Rossland, Castlegar and Salmo. The Rebels went 4-0 in the round robin, making them the top seed of eight teams in the gold medal bracket
None of their playoff wins were easy as the Rebels took on the Prince George Predators in the first match Saturday afternoon. The Predators jumped out to a 6-1 lead after three innings, but the Rebels fought back scoring six runs in the fourth in a two-out rally and another five in the sixth inning to win the game 13-6.
Sunday morning the Rebels started the day with a game against the South Surrey/White Rock Sapphires. The Rebels struggled early and were down 3-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, but with two outs the Rebels plated two runs to tie the game going into the sixth. The Rebels held the Sapphires off the scoreboard in the top of the inning and added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the game with a 5-3 win.
In all, the Rebels went 8-0 in the 16-team tournament for a thrilling BC Championship title.
