The Tisdale Riverdogs U16 softball team won gold on the weekend in Saskatoon. (Front row: L to R(kneeling):  Paige Woolsey, Amy Svenson, Keeley Becker, Ashlyn Simoneau, Hailey Craig. Back Row: L to R: Coach Luc Simoneau, Coach Ashlyn Cooley, Ashley Kidney, Stephanie Williams, Arianne Pollon, Macy Hall, Cadence Logan, Emma Markwart, Coach Rob Pollon). (submitted photo/Lori Kidney)

By Mat Barrett

Tisdale Riverdogs

Tisdale U16 Riverdogs take gold at Saskatoon Hustler tournament

Jun 3, 2019 | 5:00 PM

The Tisdale Riverdogs continue to bring medals home during the 2019 softball season.

After a silver medal in Regina on the weekend of May 24 to 26, the Riverdogs U16 team dominated in Saskatoon at the Hustler tournament from May 31 to June 2 and won gold.

On Friday night, the Riverdogs were tied 7-7 against the Saskatoon Phantoms, but a 7th inning burst led Tisdale to and 11-7 win. After that, it seemed almost smooth sailing for the Riverdogs who went on to finish up round robin play with a 9-0 win over Lloydminster, and a no-hitter from Stephanie Williams, and a 26-2 win over the Saskatoon Raiders.

That gave Tisdale a semi-finals matchup with the Saskatoon Raiders White team. That game ended with a 15-2 score in favour of Tisdale, giving them a spot in the finals against Kindersley. The Riverdogs bats came alive in the game to propel them to an 11-2 win and a gold medal.

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Vice-president of Tisdale Minor Ball, Lori Kidney, said it was a solid weekend for the girls.

“I think this team has just done really well, they’ve played together every other year for a few years,” Kidney told northeastNOW. “And they had really strong pitching and really strong catching, and their bats were on fire this weekend.”

The team dominated their division, but the most shocking part about it? The Riverdogs were playing in a division higher than what their population would dictate. Kidney said it just shows that there is good ball players everywhere.

“Our small towns have some really good ball players,” she said. “Population doesn’t really matter when they’re dedicated, and they play hard, they practice hard.”

This U16 team was one of the first teams that Tisdale Minor Ball had put into provincials in a while. They began a few years ago, and Kidney said they continue to trailblaze for the other teams.

“This team was the first team that we started with,” Kidney said. “We now have a competitive U14 team as well as a competitive U12 team.”

The U12 team was also in Saskatoon on the weekend, winning silver at the Hustler Tournament. The weekend prior, while the U16s won silver, so did the U14s and U12s.

While the season still has lots of track left, the Riverdogs will head to a tournament in Melfort, then will host one in Tisdale, before provincials in the first weekend of July.

Tisdale’s home tournament will be held from June 21 to 23 with 19 teams coming. Kidney added that they are looking for volunteers for the tournament.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6