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Banditas face Heat in inaugural exhibition play

New competitive women’s fastpitch team kick off year against local U16 squad
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Brad McLeod Photo Banditas pitcher Megan Fisher prepares to make contact with a ball while batting against the Cranbrook Heat U16 team on Tuesday afternoon.

The Cranbrook Banditas fastball team took the field for the first time this week, playing a scrimmage and exhibition game at the Quad Ball fields in Cranbrook.

On Sunday afternoon, the team split up their roster and added five players from the Cranbrook Heat U16 team to play a scrimmage and on Tuesday evening, the Banditas took on the entire Heat roster in a friendly game.

Due to the difference in strength of the pitching units, the exhibition had the Heat pitchers and catchers on the field with their own team and the Banditas likewise.

The game ended as a 12-5 win for the Heat and Banditas catcher/founder Sarah Coles was thoroughly satisfied with the performance of all the players involved.

“I was really impressed with our girls,” Coles said. “Our pitching staff did an amazing job. Only giving up five runs really shows how much work we’ve been putting in during pre-season.”

For Coles, it was great to finally get out onto the field as a team. This is the inaugural year for the Banditas as Cranbrook’s only women’s competitive fast-pitch team and they’ve been training indoors since February.

“Being in the gym, we’ve really had a chance to work on our skills but now that we’re outside, we’re able to get in our positions and work on our defence and offence,” she said. “We should really be able to bond as a team [now].”

Coles also gave a shout out to the Heat, saying that she was very impressed with how well that team has developed and was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to play alongside and against them.

The Banditas have a weekly practice schedule and their next planned event is an away tournament in Sicamous, BC on the weekend of May 27.