The Melfort U19 Spirit wrapped up its season over the weekend at provincials in Saskatoon with a playoff defeat to the Weyburn Wild. (Facebook/Melfort Minor Softball Association - MMSA).

By Aaron Schulze

Melfort U19 Spirit

Younger Melfort U19 Spirit softball team wraps up season

Jul 8, 2019 | 1:47 PM

The 2019 softball season was a unique one for the Melfort U19 Spirit.

With the U16 Spirit not having enough players to form a team, three players from that age range moved up a level earlier than usual and gave the U19 team a four-year age group.

However, in the eyes of U19 Spirit Head Coach Conrad Paskell, they didn’t appear out of place competing against girls nearly three years older than them.

“I think it will help them going forward,” Paskell told northeastNOW. “They didn’t stick out as being younger players to me. They all fought hard and it’s actually a little easier to commit when you’re younger, so you actually put more effort into it to. They played really well and performed how I expected and beyond.”

The U19 Spirit’s season wrapped up at provincials in Saskatoon when the Weyburn Wild knocked them out of the playoffs.

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Paskell didn’t use age as an excuse to the exit at provincials, as he called it “one of those things anytime you’re dealing with sports.”

“You can prepare, but it comes down to how you perform on a given day that the finals are on,” he said. “Our bats went cold and we made it tough on ourselves. The other teams were very prepared and played extremely well.

“It was a good year. The girls meshed together really well and had a lot of fun. It’s not just about the game on the field, but the time off the field. I think everyone is a little disappointed that we didn’t perform a little better on the field, but when you’re dealing with Grade 11 and 12 girls, there’s a pile of other stuff going on in their lives as well. You have to balance all your stuff with time on the field as well as activities off the field.”

Looking ahead to the 2020 U19 Spirit, Paskell said they’ll lose two 19-year-old girls who have aged out and some Grade 12’s that he suspects will move on. Thanks to having a younger team this year, they expect to have eight or nine players return next season and have three or four open spots.

The Melfort Minor Softball Association will look at coaching selections for their teams in November before player tryouts begin in January 2020.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow