Aces pitcher Keana Mullner takes a crack at one during the semifinals against the Regina Royals.

By Jeff D'Andrea

Third, now off to nationals

Aces finish third at provincials, qualify for nationals

Jul 21, 2019 | 6:17 PM

The Prince Albert Aces finished in third place at the Under-16 A Girls Softball Provincials this weekend at the Max Power Ball Park, falling in the semifinals to the Regina Royals 6-2.

The Aces did qualify for the Under-16 Girls Canadian Fast Pitch Championships Aug. 14-18 in Calgary, and had a solid weekend to get one game away from the finals. But head coach Devon Kolosa wished his team was playing for the top spot.

“We still have a national event ahead of us, so we’re going to get ready for that. We started off really strong the first two games, and it happens, our bats kind of died off a bit,” Kolosa said. “We played some good defence, our pitching was great this weekend. I’m really proud of the girls, we had a really, really good weekend.”

The pitching and defence was a highlight for the Aces throughout the weekend. They only gave up a maximum of two runs in those games (through the first seven innings) and were able to stay in each game they played even when the bats ran dry.

But against the Royals on Sunday when the Aces really needed that key hit, they weren’t able to cash in. They had a 2-0 lead until Royals third baseman Hillary Dzioba emptied the bases with a line drive deep in centre field. The Royals added three more in the fifth inning to extend their lead and eventually advance to the finals.

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“Some of these girls have gone to nationals, this will be their fourth time playing. For some of the girls that haven’t, the team leaders will get them ready to go and talk about it. I said ‘let’s go out there, have some fun and play Aces ball.’”

Phantoms of the Opera

The Saskatoon Phantoms celebrate their provincial championship. Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff

The Saskatoon Phantoms won the finals over the Royals 6-4. The Phantoms were down 4-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, where they scored four runs to clutch out the game.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca