While rain was falling on the girls fastball diamond in Cloverdale and all the rest of the games of the day postponed, one of the 14 teams decided it was time to pretend they were the stars of their own Tide commercial.
Knowing they had plenty of time to put their uniforms through the wash before the tournament resumed the following day, the Prince George Thunderbirds practiced their hitting/fielding techniques and held a contest to see who could come up with the best diving catch.
All those grass stains and mud streaks were wiped clean by the time they returned to the field and the T-birds went to town, winning four of their five games, including a come-from-behind 7-6 triumph over the South Surrey/White Rock Thunder in the championship game.
Their tournament win two weekends ago is believed to be the first for a Prince George girls fastball team at a Lower Mainland tournament in more than two decades.
"I don't know how long it's been but I reckon it's been 20-plus years - to come away the champions felt really good," said T-birds head coach Lee J. Leslie. "It's been a lot of hard work that's gone into this. To finally come back as the champions made it all worthwhile."
The T-birds won their morning game on the first day of the tournament and were slated to come back that afternoon but the rain was persistent and organizers decided to call it a day.
"It seemed like that was the turning point for us this season," said Leslie. "Our hotel was really close and we didn't have anything planned. We were a bit behind on the field time compared to the other teams down there so we practiced in the rain, and had a lot of fun with really no structure.
"They were kind of just letting everything out and having fun and you could really see their confidence and skill level coming up because of it. The other coaches walked by us and sort of looked the other way because they were off to their houses, where they're warm and dry, and there's these kids from the north playing in mud puddles.
"After five games on Sunday and winning a tight one, it made that all worthwhile."
The T-birds came back the next day and lost 4-3 to the Nanaimo Diamonds to finish fourth in their pool, but went 3-0 the rest of the day, beating the Coquitlam Classics 8-4 and the Abbotsford Outlaws 6-3 in the semifinals leading into the final against Surrey/White Rock.
The Thunder built a 5-0 lead on starter Rylee Paterson and she was replaced in the third inning by another Quesnel pitcher, Kaitlyn Doucette, who gave up just two hits and had six strikeouts and gave up just one walk in 4 2/3 innings and the T-birds' bats came to life, scoring five runs in the third to tie it up. Tessa Sturgeon and Brooklyn Hill each had multiple hits and Sturgeon went 3-for-3 at the plate.
"I think the highlight for our girls was beating the Abbotsford Outlaws in the semifinals, they're ranked 1 or 2 down there and they handed it to us pretty good in a prior tournament (in South Surrey/White Rock)," said Leslie. "That really boosted their confidence for the tournaments coming up."
The U16 T-birds will be in Abbotsford this weekend for their third tournament of the season. The T-birds have a 5-3 record this year in the four-team Prince George Women's Fastball Association, which also includes the U19 T-birds, Raiders and Lightning.
"We're very fortunate we have the opportunity to play in that league," said Leslie. "With the calibre of ball we know we're going to get pushed and we know we're going to see good pitching. The ladies have a lot of experience and think the game very well."
The T-birds will travel to Surrey, July 5-8 for the Canada Cup international tournament and will spend the following week in Greater Vancouver preparing for the provincial championships in Delta, July 12-14. The top two teams advance to the Western Canadian championships in Biggar, Sask., in August.
The other T-birds players are Jordan Maloney, Morgan Case, Destiny Bautista, Avery Leslie, Kiana Mero, Hannah Case, Amelia Musselman and Camryn Frie. Musselman and Bautista are also from Quesnel and rest are from Prince George. Doug Sturgeon and Don Doucette are the T-birds' assistant coaches.
