The Biggar Nationals’ gold medal winning team, pictured here with their championship banner. (submitted photo/Dion Harrabek)

By Martin Martinson

A grand slam

Biggar Nationals capture gold at U-16 Provincials

Jul 9, 2019 | 3:57 PM

“Overwhelming sports-wise, probably one of the proudest moments of my life.”

Those are the words Dion Harrabek, head coach of the Biggar Nationals softball team used to describe the thoughts and emotions he experienced in the dugout moments after his team, the Nationals U-16BW girls team, staked their claim as provincial champions for the 2019 season.

Following up a solid regular season that saw the team post a 14-5 record, the Nationals’ U-16’s entered provincial play confident in their ability to compete with even the top teams in Saskatchewan. The journey to being crowed provincial champs wasn’t without its adversity along the way.

Battlefords residents Mya Lavallee, Kalyna Bahler, and Rees Kachmarski, each veterans of the Battlefords’ softball program joined the Biggar club this season due to a shortage of enrolment at the U-16 level in their hometown. The three played an integral role in the Nationals’ run to a provincial championship. (submitted photo/Calvin Bahler)

The Nationals began the weekend with back-to-back losses in the opening round-robin portion of the tournament.

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After falling 5-2 to the South East Supernovas in their opening contest, the team then lost 12-9 to the Unity Panthers in their second game.

Following the two losses, however, the group held a team meeting to regroup and refocus – a turning point coach Harrabek said was integral to the team’s turnaround on the final day of action.

“We started off slow, I think nerves were getting the best of us,” he said. “We had to win our third round-robin game to make the playoffs. We had a good chat about where we were at, what we thought we needed to do, [and] the girls showed up Sunday morning with a whole different attitude and played like rock stars.”

Revitalized, the girls bounced back on Sunday to trounce the Tisdale Riverdogs 10-2 in their final round robin match, saving their best for when the stakes were highest to move on to the semifinals.

Playing the South East Supernovas for the second time in the semis, the Biggar girls made the most of their shot at redemption, taking home a 6-3 victory, to punch their ticket to the finals against Unity.

In the gold medal game, the team would once again be faced by a familiar foe.

Playing Unity for the second time on the weekend, the final was a tight contest right to the final play. The Nationals brought their ‘A-game’ with the championship on the line to lock up a 4-3 victory and take the provincial crown. Thanks to a strikeout with the Panthers’ potential tying run on third, a single base-hit would have led to the tying run; a single hit the Nationals would not allow.

Harrabek said more than anything he credits the team’s comradery as their secret weapon to success.

“[The key] was team bonding,” he said. “There was no negativity in the dugout, none whatsoever. Each girl had every other girl’s back, [and] if one made a mistake, they came back to the dugout and apologized, and the others lifted their spirits. We as coaches were there for strategy and placing players into positions, but as for trying to keep them upbeat and positive, they did that on their own.”

The Nationals will now look to continue their momentum gained from their run to provincial gold as the team will host the 2019 Western Canadian Championship August long weekend.

Biggar had been selected as hosts for the year’s event last fall, giving the team an automatic spot in the tournament. However, now with their win at provincials, the team will not only enter Western’s as hosts, but as a favourite to contend at the prestigious event in front of their hometown crowd.

“We wanted to earn a spot,” Harrabek said. “We knew we were going, [but] we had to finish top-two to make it [on merit], so to win a gold medal at provincials and be the host for Westerns is very rare; not only did you earn your spot, but you were the number one seed going in.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyPxP1