The 2019 Melfort U12 'A' Spirit achieved a lot with a younger group than usual and aims to continue developing for older age groups within the Spirit organization. (Facebook/Melfort Minor Softball Association - MMSA)

By Aaron Schulze

Melfort Spirit Softball

Melfort U12 Spirit aims to stock players for older age groups

Jul 12, 2019 | 1:37 PM

A younger Melfort U12 ’A’ Spirit softball team wrapped up its season over the weekend.

The U12 Spirit advanced to the provincial quarter-finals in Saskatoon on July 7 following a 2-1 record in round robin play.

However, their playoff season was short and sweet after they couldn’t score a runner from third base to send their back and forth battle with the Saskatoon Phantoms to extra innings.

The loss was still seen as a positive in the eyes of Assistant Coach Scott Rann, who told northeastNOW he couldn’t be more proud of the 2019 U12 Spirit.

“We only had five returning from the previous season,” Rann said. “The bulk of our team was a first year group who hadn’t really played any majorly competitive softball up to that point. For them to go where we started at to making it through to those quarter-finals of provincials was a pretty big feat for that group. I was proud of the way they handled themselves, battled, and progressed throughout the season.”

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Rann said a key element to the U12 Spirit’s success was being able to build team chemistry through off-field activities which helped them share the same vision on the diamond.

Some players on the U12 Spirit will be moving on to U14 softball next season and hopefully beyond. The Melfort Minor Softball Association (MMSA) didn’t have enough players to form a U16 team this season, which resulted in those players moving up to U19 earlier than expected.

Rann believes a good chunk of the U12 squad will be playing softball for a while.

“I really think the U12 program is going to develop some very strong softball players and it’s only going to benefit the age groups as they move forward,” he said.

MMSA will decide on coaches for all of their age groups in November before tryouts begin in January 2020.

In the meantime, Rann said the U12 Spirit player can continue their offseason development by trying out for the U12 Girls District 8 team and compete in the Softball Saskatchewan U12 Girls District Showcase in Saskatoon in August along with the MMSA’s training program in the winter.

Special thank you

Rann extended a special thank you to Kirk Kezema, the U12 Spirit’s head coach, for his dedication in 2019 while dealing with a challenging situation off the field.

“He had a trying season, mainly because his daughter has been struggling with medical issues and wasn’t able to play for most of the season,” Rann said. “For him to commit as much time as he did to our program and help our girls play when his daughter couldn’t be there, I thought that was extremely helpful and very much appreciated.”

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow