The Prince George Thunderbirds will have their home fans on deck with them this weekend.
The Under-16 B squad is stepping up to host the 18-team Provincial Minor Girls Softball Championship that begins Friday at Freeman Park.
"The B level is the highest level of competition in northern B.C.," said tournament chair Jess Hudson. "We're very excited and it will be nice to have the home crowd behind us for once.
"It will be excellent ball, there will be very good teams from across B.C."
The Thunderbirds are formed by 16 girls ages 15 to 16 from Prince George and Quesnel. The team has traveled together for the last year and is coming off a seventh-place finish at the B.C. Summer Games in Nanaimo on the weekend. Some of the team has played together since mites (five to six-year-olds).
The tournament is a round-robin format - every team is guaranteed four games and will be seeded for the playoffs based on runs for, against and bases touched.
The first pitches will be tossed at 8 a.m. in four games Friday followed by another round at 10 a.m.
Opening ceremonies begin at noon on the ladies field at Freeman Park.
The Thunderbirds take to the field at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday.
The playoff round begins Saturday at 7 p.m.
The bronze medal game goes Sunday at 2 p.m. with the winner advancing to play for gold at 4 p.m.
The T-birds, the lone squad from northern B.C., will be in tough against competition from 15 different regions in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Kootenays.
Teams competing in Prince George are: Nanaimo Nitro '99s, South Delta Invaders '98s, Vancouver Wildcats '99s, Sooke Sox, Richmond Islanders '98/'99s, Kootenay Kodiaks, Lakehill Blazers, North Delta Sunfire '98s, North Shore Stars '99s, South Surrey White Rock Thunder '98s, South Surrey White Rock Thunder '99s, Ridge Meadows Rage '98s, Cloverdale Fury '98s, Penticton Power, Langley Extreme '99s, Coquitlam Classics, and the South Delta Invaders '99s.
Prince George Minor Softball is in building mode right now, trying to rebuild the sport that was popular 20 years ago and has a long history in the city.
Hudson hopes the 2014 season is a sign of resurgence as three teams qualified for provincials and another competed at regionals.
The PrintWerx peewee Thunderbirds finished fifth at their provincial championship recently in Maple Ridge; the midgets just fell short of the playoff round in Abbotsford to finish 12th, while the RH Jones Mechanical Jr. Panthers squirts finished just out of the medals in fourth at regionals in Barriere.
"It's been a really good year for our teams," said Hudson. "We last held the squirt provincials in 2009 and we're hoping to start and make this an annual tradition."
