(Photo courtesy/Melfort Minor Softball Association, Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

U11 Girls

Melfort Spirit win softball gold in Humboldt

Jun 12, 2024 | 5:05 PM

A local U11 girls’ softball team recently won their first gold medal of the season.

The Melfort Spirit took down Humboldt, in Humboldt on Saturday in the tournament’s finale, by a score of 2-1.

The game was the Spirit’s fifth in a 12-hour span.

“Our first game was at nine and then we had a one-game break before playing at 1, 3, 5 and 7,” explained head coach Jessie Spencer. “Honestly, it felt like they won the World Series, they were so excited… everyone played so well and I’m so proud of them. They played so well as a team and we had a lot of fun.”

Melfort went 4 and 1 in the tournament overall, having actually lost their first game of round-robin play against Humboldt, whom they beat in the finals.

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The Spirit made it two to nothing in the top of the sixth inning, one off a squeeze bunt and the other off a hit.

Humboldt then made it a pressure-filled bottom of the final inning, as one girl nearly hit a two-run inside-the-park home run, but ultimately was stranded at third, as a popup to the catcher ended the game.

A wild day for the U11 Melfort girls, as they battled both their competition and the weather.

“We had the girls in toques and hand warmers in pockets to keep the pitchers warm, it was not very nice,” Spencer added. “It hasn’t been the nicest weather this year for ball, so you gotta take what you can get when you have the chance to play.”

Thankfully, the team has six girls who like to pitch, so they were able to keep them relatively warm and fresh through the cold and busy day.

This particular group has been playing together since late March/early April, having to do so indoors in the beginning.

They are now looking forward to Provincials in Meadow Lake during the first weekend of July.

Before then, they will host a mini round-robin tournament in Melfort on June 23rd against some of their likely competitors at provincials.

“We saw some of those teams in Humboldt this past weekend, so that gave us some confidence, knowing we’re kind of where we’re supposed to be,” Spencer concluded.

Other Melfort softball action coming up is this weekend when the 222s host a fastpitch shootout which will feature eight divisions of U13, U15 and U17 girls.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8