As the host team of a provincial championship the pressure is always on to put a competitive product on the field and this past weekend was no exception.
The Battleford Flats were the host facility for the peewee B provincial softball championships and the more experienced Battlefords Bandits Red team made the most of their opportunity while the Battlefords Bandits White were a win away from making the playoffs.
The Bandits Red started the tournament with a 9-3 win over the Saskatoon Hustler Hornets. The pitching duo of Jesse Schmidt and Kirsty Kindrachuk were on target helping to get the weekend started with a win.
Jesse and Kirsty were the only two pitchers used the entire weekend and, with both being first year players, coach Rod Fedler was impressed and proud of how the two did on the weekend.
In the second game Friday, the Bandits Red lost, but Fedler said it was a game his team should've won.
"It really opened the girls' eyes," said Fedler.
The Bandits Red lost 12-10 to the Saskatoon Hustler Havoc.
Saturday, the Bandits Red were looking to regroup from the loss and they did just that, as they mercied the Prince Albert Aces in five innings.
The final round robin game for the Bandits Red produced another lopsided win, as they beat the Regina Lazers by nearly 20 runs in four innings.
After the round robin, three teams were tied at 3-1, but the host team's runs for ratio was the best and gave them first place in their pool and a bye to the semi finals.
In the semi finals, the Bandits Red played the Unity Panthers in a tight match. The Bandits Red were up 6-4 when Unity had the bases loaded and two outs in the final inning. Kirsty struck out the next batter and sealed the win sending the Bandits Red to the provincial championship game.
Sunday at 2:30 p.m., the Bandits Red took on the Watrous Royals for the provincial title. The Bandits got their starting pitcher plenty of run support in the first inning, as the Battlefords led 6-0 after the first inning.
Watrous chipped away at the lead and by the fifth inning they were in front 8-6.
The Bandits Red scored a run in the sixth inning to put them down by a run and trailing 8-7.
The Bandits Red's offence broke out once again during their next at bat and they pulled ahead 11-8.
It was up to the defence to shut down the Royals in their last at bat and the Bandits Red's defence stepped up huge.
Janay Lenuik made a diving catch in centre-field to record the second out and Kalie Nordell made another unbelievable catch in right field for the final out.
The Bandits Red had just three first-year players on their team and were building for this tournament all season. The hard work and high expectations finally paid off once they received their provincial championship medals.
The Bandits White team, with a roster full of mostly first-year players, finished the round robin 1-3. The Bandits White were a win away from making the playoffs, but have to be happy with the effort put forward by the younger Bandits and the experienced gained from the 10-team provincial tournament.
