The Lakeland Blaze pulled off one late-inning rally to get to the Shaye Amundson Memorial Tournament U17 Final, but couldn’t quite pull off a second.
The Blaze scored three runs in the seventh and final inning, but couldn’t squeeze out one more in a 5-4 loss to the Saskatoon Selects Reds. Despite the loss, Blaze head coach Scott Reid said he was happy with the effort.
“I thought they showed a lot of resolve battling back here in this final,” Reid said. “Overall, they performed very well this weekend, and that we were hoping for.
“We keep growing as a team and we keep getting better, so that’s all we can ask for as coaches with our players,” he added. “It was a positive weekend overall. It’s just too bad we came up a little short in the end.”
The loss in the U17 Finals marked the second time a late-inning Lakeland Rally fell short against the Reds. The two teams met in Pool A’s opening game, with Lakeland pushing two runs across the plate during the final inning in a 7-6 loss.
“They seem to have our number right now, but it’s a long season and there’s lots of ball left,” Reid said. “I’m sure we’re going to see them a bunch more times…. Hopefully these close games start going our way as we get towards the end of the season.”
After losing the opening game of the tournament, the Blaze rebounded for big wins over the Parkland Predators (19-4) and Regina Saints (15-5). That set up a semi-final game with the Twin City Angels, who won Pool B.
The Angels opened the game with two runs in the top of the first, but that was all the offence they generated. The Blaze made it 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the second, then rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth before holding scoreless in the seventh to win it.
That setup a rematch with the Reds, who won their semi-final match-up with the White Butte Storm 9-3.
The two teams were tied at one before the Reds broke the game open with a three-run third inning. Saskatoon added another run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-1 before Lakeland rallied for three runs on an inside the park homerun. That was as close as the Blaze got, with Saskatoon winning 5-4.
The Blaze are off this weekend, but are back in action from June 14-16 when they travel to Melfort for the 222’s Fastpitch Shootout.
Aces win both pools in U11 Division
The Prince Albert U11 Fiddler Aces gave up only three runs in three games while going undefeated in pool play. The Fiddler Aces defeated the Saskatoon Raider Rush(2-0), Maidstone (12-0) and Moose Jaw (9-3) to secure a spot in the Pool A Final.
Once there, they defeated Moose Jaw again to secure the win.
The Prince Albert U11 Njaa Aces dropped their first game of the tournament 11-2 to the Saskatoon Lasers, but rebounded for wins over Meadow Lake (16-8) and Melfort (9-3) to earn a rematch against Saskatoon in the Pool B Final. The Njaa Aces would go on to win 9-8.
U13 Aces stopped in semi-finals
The Prince Albert U13 Aces also dropped their first game, but rebounded for two straight wins to earn a spot in the semi-final.
The Aces fell 4-1 to the Humboldt Thunder in their tournament opener, but rallied for wins against the Parkland Predators (10-7) and Melfort Spirit B (16-3). The faced the Pool B winners from Moose Jaw in the semi-finals, losing 15-8.
U15 Aces fall to Ice in semi-finals
The U15 Aces opened their tournament with a 10-8 win over the Saskatoon Raiders on Friday.
They then lost 7-5 to the Twin City Angels, but rebounded for a 4-2 win over Sherwood Park to finish 2-1 in pool play.
The Aces faced the Pool B winning Moose Jaw Ice in the semi-finals, with the Ice coming out on top 11-4.