The Prince Albert Astros overcame an early deficit against the Delisle Diamond Dogs on Sunday afternoon to capture the 2012 Softball Saskatchewan U12 (Squirt) “A” Boys provincial championship.
After Delisle pushed across a run in the top of the first inning, the Astros scored twice in the second, third and sixth innings while holding the Diamond Dogs scoreless the rest of the way to win 6-1.
Astros head coach Derek Smith said it was a good all-around effort by his squad.
“The boys came out playing hard,” he said. “We were hitting the ball, we were putting the ball in play, our defence came through, our pitching was outstanding this weekend.”
It was a second game for both teams, who advanced to the final with victories in the morning. The Astros beat the Saskatoon Phantoms 14-1 while Delisle topped the eventual bronze medalists Sask Valley in a wild 11-9 game.
The Astros were unbeaten in the tournament, winning their four roundrobin games and two tournament games. They beat Delisle 2-0 in a nail biter on Saturday.
Smith said his team has been practising together since January and that paid off in team chemistry.
“It’s a good team atmosphere; they’re always supporting each other and not getting down on themselves,” he said. “We came together and hit the ball well and threw the ball well through the weekend and I think that was the difference.”
Diamond Dogs head coach Joel Durham was pleased with his squad and their work throughout the tournament.
“For this age group they played pretty good, “ he said. “When you think about it at the end of the day, they played above their heads.”
He said his team’s hitters just picked an unfortunate time to go cold.
“Our bats weren’t working this game,” he said. “In the semifinal against Warman (Sask Valley), they had good pitching too and we sure hit the ball that game.”
The Astos roster included Braden Schneider, Austin Lamotte, Talon Antoine (the winning pitcher), Cory Krawec, Riley Smith, Shaden Smith, Brennan Parenteau, Tyler Rock, Landon Couture, Sam Miller, Brennon Boyer, Zach Lomsnes, Troy Premack and Brett Cameron and assistant coaches Kevin Premack and Trevor Miller.
