Blaze player Sydney Rann stands on second during a tournament contest in Sherwood Park this past weekend. (Scott Reed/submitted)

By Logan Lehmann

Bringing the heat

New regional softball team has sights set high in inaugural season

May 16, 2024 | 1:00 PM

A new U17 regional softball team is making noise following their first-ever week of play.

The Lakeland Blaze took to the field for the first time last weekend, playing in a tournament in Sherwood Park, Alta, where Lakeland’s Head Coach Scott Reed said he was impressed with the performance since it was the first time they played games as a team.

“We were able to shake some rust off and find our groove,” he said. “Our bats came alive and our defence got better, so we ended up winning our way back up the tournament schedule and ended up losing in the A-Semifinals and then played in a consolation game after that. We were really happy with the start to our year and how the girls got going throughout.”

The team consists of 12 players and four coaches from in and around the Prince Albert, Melfort, and Tisdale areas, and will only play in tournaments as a travel ball club.

Reed explained that this regional team was created because there was not enough local interest.

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“In past years in the older age groups, it was getting to a point where the numbers were down in U19 age groups and U17 and so we thought that a great way to keep girls playing ball and to have competitive programs was to join along with the programs in the Northeast region through Melfort and Tisdale and area,” he said.

“We had a new board formed with the Lakeland Blaze program in cooperation with Prince Albert Minor Softball and Melfort Minor Softball, and now we’re looking at joining forces with a team and a group of girls in the Melfort region that were our competitors and a couple of the top groups to now form a team to, hopefully, be very competitive at the provincial and national levels.”

With some success under their belt in the young season, Reed said the team has set their expectations high and hopes to see the club clinch a berth to Nationals later this summer.

“The team has been coming along quite nicely and with any new team and new group when you have a lot of new faces joining each other, there’s a process for us trying to figure out where everybody is shaping up in what positions and what their role will be with the team, and that’s the great thing about this group of girls, they’ve all embraced that process and are open to exploring what spot they can play and how they can help,” he explained.

“We want to continue to grow throughout the season – through our tournaments to use these as stepping stones to prepare ourselves for the provincial championships at the end of the season in July. We want to ultimately win provincials, that’s our goal, but if we can finish in the top three of our age category, that gets us a berth to the Canadian National Championships in Calgary in August. So our goal is to represent Saskatchewan at Nationals and hopefully as the number one Saskatchewan team in that tournament.”

The Blaze are set to hit the diamond again this weekend, hosting their first tournament of the season in Prince Albert.

The Lakeland Blaze U17 A Invitational will feature teams from both Saskatchewan and Alberta and will be played at Prime Ministers Park. Games start this Friday with the championship game taking place on Sunday.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com