The U19 Lakeland Blaze celebrate their victory. (Facebook/ Melfort Minor Softball)

By Nigel Maxwell

Softball provincials

U19 Lakeland Blaze win gold at Provincials

Jul 15, 2024 | 11:32 AM

In their inaugural season, the U19 Lakeland Blaze have scorched quite a path.

The U19 B women’s provincial championship was held over the weekend in Battleford and the Blaze finished first. Head Coach James Coach was very pleased with the team’s effort on the field.

“I’ve been coaching for about 10 years and I’ve never seen a team play so well and just gel together so much and pick each other up. It was awesome to see,” he said.

The team opened round robin play on Friday, with lopsided wins over both the Saskatoon Selects Mavericks (12-0) and Regina Riot (19-4). On Saturday, the Blaze then pounced on the Unity Panthers 10-3; before defeating the Battleford Bandits 10-7.

The Blaze would face the Bandits again in the gold medal game and won 8-1. Crouch attributed the team’s success to chemistry on the field, as well as great outings by their pitchers and big hits at the right time.

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“When we had bases loaded with two outs, we got some really big hits from the girls that played,” he said.

With the win, the Blaze now advance to Westerns, which will be held in early August in Irma, Alberta.

The U17 Blaze squad was also in action this weekend and finished fifth at their respective provincials tournament in Regina. They will also get a chance next month to represent Saskatchewan at Westerns in Port Alberni, B.C

The Lakeland Blaze is a Regional club and consists of players from the Prince Albert, Debden, Rosthern, Melfort and Tisdale areas.

Coming up this weekend, Prince Albert will host both the U15 A girls’ and U15 open boys’ tournaments.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell