By Geoff Smith

Bandits survive near-rainout to win provincial title

Jul 11, 2016 | 11:37 AM

An intense downpour threatened to wash-out a perfect tournament for the Battleford Bandits.

But thanks to the work of the ground crew, the teams were able to complete the final game of the Softball Saskatchewan U12 ‘B’ Girls Provincial Championship Sunday, July 11 at the Battleford Flats. The host Bandits came out on top with a 7-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Ice.

The Bandits went 4-0 in the round robin, and eliminated Melfort Sunday morning to advance to the final. Battleford and Moose Jaw were in the third inning Sunday afternoon when the storm hit.

“There was huge lightning and we had to run off the field and as everybody that was in North Battleford knew it was minutes, and there was puddles everywhere,” Bandits coach Regan Lavallee said. “We’re sitting in our vehicles looking back at the field and it was, how are we going to finish this game?”

Lavallee said the fields appeared to be unplayable, so the teams drove to North Battleford where they found the same situation at Centennial Park. She said the ground crew came to the rescue, with a product that dried out the diamond.

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“Within an hour we were playing again and it was like it hadn’t even rained on that diamond,” Lavallee said.

Lavallee said ace pitcher Kalyna Bahler was a big reason for their victory, but adds it was an all-around team effort, as they scored the maximum five runs in each inning of their first two games. She added it was especially impressive because only four Bandits players were in their second year. Five more were in their first year, and three were underage players.

“It was a very memorable season,” Lavallee said.

Geoff Smith is battlefordsNOW’s News Director, business and agriculture reporter. He can be reached at gsmith@jpbg.ca or tweet him @smithco. Concerns regarding this story can be addressed to Geoff at 306-446-6397.