The weather was perfect, the stands were packed and the Xtreme brought their ‘A’ game to their inaugural exhibition match on Sunday afternoon.
Playing at the Quad Ball Fields in Cranbrook, the hometown East Kootenay fastball squad kicked off their first season with a convincing 16-0 win over the visiting Elkford Glory Daze. According to Xtreme manager Jordan Foreman, despite the lopsided outcome, the outing was filled with fantastic plays from both sides.
“Both teams made some amazing defensive plays and I think a lot of fun was had by [everyone],” Foreman said. “Collectively we put forward a very good overall performance [and] it was great to get out and play a real game. It really showed us what is and isn’t working at this point and what we should really focus on for the next couple weeks.”
While their offence did enough to get the job done against Elkford, hitting practice will be a top priority as the team moves forward to play stronger competition.
“For the most part our players are strong enough that our defense should be able to take care of itself with a little practice maintenance and a bit better communication on the field,” Foreman said. “Overall I think [our biggest] focus needs to be on hitting as many balls in the next couple weeks as possible to really prepare for some of the pitchers we will be facing.
“Elkford had a bunch of players that hadn’t played in a game for a [few] years so considering that I think they did very well as well.”
The Xtreme’s next action will be over the weekend of May 25, when they travel to Sicamous for a tournament hosted by the Okanagan Angels. Foreman said that playing Elkford was crucial practice for that event and hopes it was also the beginning of a great relationship with one of their neighbours.
“We had a blast and [hope] to continue to be able to play some more games [against them],” he said. “We hope other communities [also] jump on the wagon as well and one day we can have a full Kootenay league. We were also super impressed with the turnout from the community, both sides of the bleachers were packed and feedback sounded like everyone really enjoyed their time at the field.
“The ladies were pretty fired up with the crowd cheering them on so that was pretty cool to see for the first game.”
The opening day roster for the Xtreme included Amii Morrison, Bethany Reid, Brette Stroud, Christy Lode, Jacqui Borys-Trischuk, Laura Ratcliff Cuthill, Lauren Langille, Lisa Janssen, Lori Sturney, Megan Fisher, Miku Arai, Sherry Jackson and Whitney Lightfoot. The team is coached by Doug Morrison.