The diamonds at Prime Ministers’ Park will be buzzing this weekend as Prince Albert prepares to host U15 provincials for both boys’ and girls’ softball.
Astros hoping to return to Canadians for second straight year
The Prince Albert Astros will look to punch their ticket to nationals for the second year in a row after hosting the event last year..
Astros head coach Neil Finch says Prince Albert has set that as their goal all season long.
“We’re excited to try to get to Nationals as our goal and that’s our target. There are teams that will be able to get to Nationals and Westerns after the weekend and our goal would be for sure to be going to Nationals after the weekend is over.”
With six teams in the tournament, the Astros will play two games on Friday and two on Saturday in hopes of qualifying for the playoff bracket on Sunday.
With the way the Astros are built as a team, Finch says Prince Albert will need to play well and win low scoring games to find their way into the conversation on Sunday.
“We will have to be playing really good defence and have that clutch hitting when need be. But between those two things, that’s going to help us have success. The thing on top of that is just that mental game and staying emotionally level, which the bigger the stage, the harder that is for athletes. But that’s something we talked about, is just staying emotionally level and making sure that we stay intense but relaxed at the same time.“
The Astros played host to Nationals last season at Prime Ministers’ Park, welcoming teams from across Canada. Prince Albert returns three veterans from that team.
Finch says the trio have been key leaders for a young Astros team all year long.
“We rely on them heavily. They helped with that being intense but relaxed at the same time because they’ve seen that, they’ve been at that stage before and that’s an important piece to our game and we will rely on them as being leaders.”
The Astros begin their provincial championship at 9:00 a.m. on Friday when they take on the Valley Blue Jays.
Aces hoping to come out on top of 17 team field
The Prince Albert Aces are looking to be the top team at the end of the weekend.
Aces head coach Curtis Bradbury says the team is looking forward to their first game on Friday.
“This is the weekend that we prepare for throughout the season, going to exhibition games, going to tournaments. All in anticipation for this weekend, so I think the girls are extremely excited to get going tomorrow morning.”
Prince Albert finds themselves in the Green Pool with the Saskatoon Raiders, Regina Comet Royals, White Butte Storm and Southeast Sun Devils. The top two from each pool will advance to the championship bracket on Sunday.
In order to find themselves competing on Sunday, Bradbury says Prince Albert will need to minimize errors in the field.
“For us it’s just having everything come together (and) having consistency defensively, not making or minimizing our errors and then hopefully our bats are going with the offence. If we could get those two things going in our direction then I think we’ll be successful.”
Bradbury adds that the Aces are lucky to have a tight knit group that should play dividends on the weekend.
“It’s probably our team chemistry. We have 13 girls who have played ball together the last five, six years. They all get along. We have a great parent group. Our pitching was fantastic. We have four solid pitchers. To have four strong arms, especially when they’re going into a weekend like this, where a few things are going to factor in, lots of games, the heat and the dynamics of what may happen during the games, it’s certainly a benefit. But I like the fact that our team is close knit, that’s going to help us in the long run.”
The U15 Aces kick off provincial play at 9:30 a.m. when they take on the Saskatoon Raiders
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