There’s no doubt that the Jarvie Jaguars softball program is a successful one, with the pee wee squad bringing home a provincial bronze medal.
Coach Albert Burchett said the provincial ‘C’-level tournament in St. Paul from July 13-15 was a great competitive end to a successful season.
“It was a battle, that’s for sure. We had a couple one-run games,” he said.
The proved not to be the case in the bronze-medal game against St. Paul, as the girls were able to make use of the seven-run mercy rule after six innings, claiming a 14-7 victory over the hosts.
Things started off well for the girls, on Friday with a commanding 12-5 win over Red Deer before a tighter 11-10 comeback win against Medicine Hat.
“We were down 5-0 after a couple innings, but the girls managed to get back in it and go ahead,” Burchett said.
Saturday saw the girls struggle a bit against Irma, losing by just a single run.
“We were up 7-4 going into the last inning, and we gave up six but only managed to get two back,” he said. “We left the tying run at third and the winning run at second; we couldn’t manage to score them.”
The 10-9 loss to Irma lit a fire under the girls, though, and their second game of the day was a 12-8 win over Coronation to secure the playoff spot.
Sunday’s semifinal game against Provost was a tough one, with the girls dropping that tilt 11-2 — although there is some consolation in the fact that Provost went on to win the gold.
Ultimately, Burchett said, it was a successful end to what was a very successful season. The girls finished second in their league, which doesn’t necessarily sound impressive until you consider they were playing in a bantam league against athletes on average three years old than them. Even then, they went undefeated until the league championship game when they lost to the Jarvie Jaguars bantam team.
“It has a lot to do with coaches, and a lot to do with parents,” he said. “There are a lot of good athletes in the Jarvie area; Jarvie, Dapp and Fawcett.”
With a successful season like this under their belt, Burchett said he expects more good things out of the squad next year.
