The Prince Albert Aces came to play on Friday, winning a pair of games to kick off the U15 A Girls Provincial Championship.
Prince Albert defeated the Saskatoon Raiders 10-3 in their opening game before knocking off the Southeast Sun Devils 12-4 in their afternoon contest.
Aces head coach Curtis Bradbury says he was pleased with how his team played.
“First game bats and defense were going and the girls played really well. It was an early morning game. It was hot, but we ended up getting the job done pretty quick. We had two pitchers, Avie Kovitch and Shaye Woolley, who pitched fantastic.”
In the afternoon contest, the Aces bats would start out hot, scoring three runs in the first and added single runs in the second and fourth innings.
Southeast would cut the deficit to just one after posting a four run inning in the bottom of the fifth.
After each team was held scoreless in the sixth, Prince Albert exploded for seven runs in the top half of the seventh to invoke the mercy rule.
Bradbury says the Aces got contributions in the win from every player on the roster.
“We started off the game hot with offense and we ended up slumping a little bit in the middle of the game but that happens. The nice thing with the heat, we have 13 girls. Everyone got into the game and then the bats just took over at the end to get us the mercy rule again.”
With 17 teams in the field, the Aces ended up in the Green Pool which is the lone pool of five teams in the tournament. Having to play an extra round robin game before the playoff bracket, Bradbury says it was crucial to start off the tournament with a pair of wins.
“Our goal at the start of the weekend was to at least go 3-1 in Round Robin. To get two right off the first day is huge and if we could get one or two more tomorrow we’ll be playing Sunday so it’s fantastic. Especially with the heat the way it is, we have the bodies, we have 13 girls who are great ballplayers. The more ball, the better. That’s kind of the way that I’ve always looked at it, so keep our game going, get the bats going. Defensively, stay sound, and we’ll be okay.”
The Aces return to action at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning when they take on the Regina Royals Comets.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
