The East Kootenay Xtreme competed at their first ever tournament over the weekend, placing third at the 2018 Ladies Open hosted by the Okanagan Angels in Sicamous.
According to head coach Doug Morrison, the fastball team’s results were phenomenal for only having played in a single exhibition game prior to the weekend.
“We played better than I expected for the first tournament of the year,” Morrison said. “I think this [weekend] helped our team immensely. The team bonding on and off the field was great and it was really nice for everyone to get to know each other a little better.
“It was a great stepping stone for a great year.”
Kicking off their first game of the tournament with a 9-0 win over the Cawston Coyotes at 8 in the morning, the Xtreme followed it up with a 13-3 loss to Steveston Athletics. Finishing up the round robin against the Kelowna Heat, the East Kootenay women won 11-3 to book their ticket to the quarterfinals of the ‘A’ division.
On Sunday morning, the Xtreme advanced with a 2-1 win in a rematch with the Heat. While they challenged the Surrey Thunder, who were undefeated without having given up a run in the round robin, they couldn’t maintain a 2-2 tie past the sixth inning.
The Xtreme finished the tournament in third place in the ‘A’ group, while Surrey lost to the New West Kaos for the championship.
Morrison said that while the weekend was impressive, there is still room for improvement as the team continues their quest to the Provincial tournament in August.
“Our pitchers and catchers did quite well, overall our defence was good and our team as a whole hit better than I thought they would,” he said. “We [still] have to work on making the routine plays consistently, communication between players and most importantly [our] batting.”
The Xtreme have several more tournaments coming up over the summer, including a home event at the Kinsmen Quad Ballpark from July 6 to 8.