The New Westminster peewee C Royals won a silver at the under-14 girls' softball provincials In Newton July 7.
In the final game for the gold, the Cawston Kobau Koyotes were relatively fresh having only had two games, while the Royals had already played four games, over nine solid hours of ball. With Kayla Suhner at the mound a valiant effort was made to hold the Koyotes back, who were strong hitters. Kira Rieger ended the third inning with a great catch out in left field. Despite two singles each from Jordan Ring, Suhner, and Michelle Li, Royals had to settle for the silver relinquishing the game 9-2.
The team had to play 10 games, five back-to-back games alone on the final Sunday. The players were tough and braved playing each game held together with tape, bandages, A535, ice and Advil.
The Royals faced two of the strongest teams in their first two tournament games.
Cawston shocked the Royals drawing first blood by scoring four quick runs in the top of the first inning. Royals answered with two runs, Kayla Suhner, with a single and a great slide at homeplate, and Theodora Corbeil, with her single made it to third. Christina Lemieux's hit to deep left field allowed Theodora to get home. Despite strong pitching by Royals, the Koyotes managed to get two in the third and two more in the fifth to defeat the Royals 8 - 2.
The Royals' second game pitted them against Chilliwack Stealers, one of the three teams besides the Koyotes that went undefeated in the round-robin. Even with a double from Shelby Greenwell and a single by Calista Hamilton, the Stealers held Royals to only one run scored by Kayla. Valiant efforts by backstoppers Jordan Ring and Sarah Cox, and solid pitching by Keira Jang with three shutout innings and Theodora with two shutout innings, held the Stealers to three runs in a 3-1 loss.
The third game was much anticipated as the Surrey Storm was known to be strong all year. Keja Davis lead the offense with a double and a single. Other singles by Jordan Ring, Keira J, Theodora and Kylie Baker contributed to New West's eight runs. The Storm had difficulty getting past our defense in the first four innings. They were shut down in the first three innings with Keira J at the mound and Jordan and Sarah catching. Theodora shut down Surrey in the fourth inning and Michelle Li robbed the Storm with a magnificent fly catch deep in right field in an 8-4 win.
Game 4 was a must-win. The Royals blew the game wide open with their offense coming from Shelby with a triple, a double and a single, Jordan's triple and single, Sarah Cox with 2 singles, and Calista with 2 runs scored, allowing the team to qualify for the playoffs with an 18-1 victory.
Ending eighth in the round-robin, the Royals had to face the undefeated Ridge Meadows Tigers. Despite two singles each from Kylie Baker, Kira Rieger, Christina, and Kayla, the Royals gave up their first game in the double-knockout playoff format. Keja was solid at first base keeping the score close at 8-6.
The fourth-place North Delta Hurricanes posted three wins and a tie in the round robin. The Royals had to win to stay in the playoffs. At the bottom of the fourth, the Royals trailed 4-3 despite singles from Kira R., Christina and Calista. Ella Bohn's single in the top of the fifth brought Kylie home and Ella for the winning run. Michelle got on base and was hit home by Jordan, padding the lead by a single run in a 6-4 win.
After scoring only one run against them in their first meeting, the Royals had to figure out how to crack the Chilliwack Stealers' defense. Four out of the five runs were scored by the younger players, Calista and Michelle, along with Ella's RBI bringing Kylie home. Theodora pitched three shutout innings and kept it tied 3-3 at the end of the fifth. Keira J shut down the last inning with the help of a spectacular pop fly catch out in left field by Sarah, allowing the Royals to advance to the next playoff game with a 5-3 win.
A win against the Ridge Meadows Tigers would guarantee the Royals a minimum of a bronze medal. Kayla led the way with three singles, while two singles each from Jordan, Keira J, Theodora, Sarah, and Kylie brought in eight more runs. Theodora shut down three innings and Kayla closed the game with two more shutout innings. Keja shut the door at first, helping keep the Tigers to only five runs. The Royals clinched the bronze medal and lived to play another game where the winner will play for gold or silver.
The Royals expected another tough competition against the Nanaimo Nitros, which had only lost one game by ne run in the tournament to date. Shelby tallied two runs, getting home on Christina and Keja's pair of singles to lead the Royals to a 7-2 victory. A tight infield and another fantastic pop fly catch by Sarah in left field held the Nitros from scoring.
Royals were winners not because they kept winning their games, they were winners for their character and attitude. Just when you thought they had no more to give, they dug down and gave some more. When one faltered, another would be there to pick up where the other left off. This was true with the three pitchers, when each were called upon to pitch, they did their job. Pushing through the pain, Theodora Keira J both pitched 16 shutouts innings, while Kayla blanked the opposition through six innings and closed the final game when she was really needed. Jordan and Sarah provided solid catching although they had taken a beating all weekend in the hot sun. The coaches were key in drawing out the best from each player with their positive encouragement. All the Royals contributed to the offence right down to the first year players who pulled the team to a victory in two of the games. This is the definition of winning.
