The Prince George Under-16 Thunderbirds have gotten so used to winning provincial medals they might just keep that run of success intact this weekend at the B.C. Summer Games in Duncan.
Two weekends after wrapping up the gold medal in the silver division at the U-16 B.C. girls softball B provincial tournament in Kelowna, the Thunderbirds will form the bulk of the Zone 8 Cariboo-North East regional team vying for the B.C. Games medal podium this weekend.
The T-birds were down to their last out two weekends ago, trailing the Abby Outlaws 3-2 at the 16-team provincial silver division final in Kelowna. With two out in the top of the seventh the T-birds had a runner on base and Hannah Case was down to her last strike when she hit a run-scoring double to tie the game. Then, with a pinch runner on second base, Tessa Sturgeon singled into the outfield to score the go-ahead run. That set the stage for a controversial ending.
"All we had to do was shut them down in the seventh and they had one out and got a runner to third and they got to the eighth and ninth spot of the order," said Leslie. "They had their eighth hitter bunt with her third strike and fouled it and that got us the second out, and then they did the same thing with their No. 9 hitter. She bunted third strike and the ball went into fair territory but the ball popped up and hit her. There was some confusion and one of the coaches picked up that she had bunted third strike so she was out and we won the game."
Kaitlyn Doucette, a 2003-born player from Quesnel, pitched seven complete innings in the final.
The T-birds went 4-2 in the tournament and had to win their last three games to win the silver bracket.
Dating back to their first medal win at the U-12 level four years ago when they placed third in the silver bracket, the Thunderbirds have had to be creative to overcome the hurdles of playing in a colder climate. This year they stuck to an indoor training plan which extended into mid-May due to late arrival of spring, which kept them off the fields for an additional month.
"The girls definitely put the time in in the winter months via chalk talk, working with Engage Sports North at the university and on Sundays we worked in the batting cage and in the field (at the Northern Sport Centre)," said Leslie.
"It was ridiculous this year, I think we'd already played in two tournaments, in Kelowna and Vancouver, before we hit the field."
Last year the T-birds finished third in B.C. in the U-15 gold bracket after winning gold in the silver division the previous year. Opening this year's provincials with 3-2 win over Kelowna, the T-birds got knocked out of the gold bracket after losses to View Royal and Abbotsford. In the single-elimination silver bracket they reeled off wins over Langford, Ridge Meadows and Abbotsford.
The B.C. Games is open to players under age 16.
The Cariboo-North East team includes six players from Prince George - Case, Sturgeon, Avery Leslie, Brooklyn Hill, Jordan Maloney and Emily Motley. The eight from Quesnel are Destiny Bautista, Riley Telford, Rylee Paterson, Amelia Musselman, Grace Currie, Tatum Mueller, and Kiana Mero. Lee J. Leslie, Doug Sturgeon, Jenn Collins and Kourtney Miller are the coaches.
"We have a very young team, the majority of the girls are '03s and all the other girls we see, primarily, will be '02s," said coach Leslie.
Cariboo-North East opens its B.C. Games schedule Friday at 10:30 a.m. against Fraser Valley and also plays the Kootenays at 1 p.m.
Caley Leslie, 16, of Prince George is eligible for the Zone 8 team at B.C. Games but as a member of the White Rock Renegades she's committed to her A-level team now playing in the Canada Cup tournament in Surrey. She attends Delta Baseball Academy.
"They played Japan (on Tuesday) and got waxed 12-1 but that's pretty much the highlight of her career so far," said Lee. J. Leslie.
"She would have been a welcome addition, but she knew if she went A-ball she knew she would probably not be able to come to the Games with us."
