Hat Thunder softball team loving first league season

By Sean Rooney on June 6, 2018.

Two summers ago it was a big deal that Medicine Hat even had a competitive girls softball team again.

Now they’re in a league, many of their players have made the Zone 1 Alberta Summer Games team and they full expect to contend for a provincial title by the end of the summer.

“It’s a great experience, we’ve got such a great group of girls,” said head coach Scott Kelly following a weekend of games in St. Albert. “I tell anybody, these girls are the most coachable group I’ve had in any sport in my years of coaching.”

In the Prairie League Softball under-16 B division, the Medicine Hat Thunder now sit in second place with an 8-2 record. They went 4-1 this past weekend, beating Calgary Nose Creek 5-4, Red Deer Rage 12-1, St. Albert Angels 8-1 and Olds’ Pistols 14-3. The only loss was a 10-4 decision to the Calahoo Erins on Saturday.

Kelly is also coaching the Zone 1 team heading to Grande Prairie in July, noting 11 of its 14 players are also on the Thunder. The only bad news about that is that, for the first time in three years, Medicine Hat won’t be able to compete at the Little League softball nationals — it happens just days after the Alberta Summer Games.

In previous years Medicine Hat’s been able to get dual-certified to play in both Softball Alberta and Little League championships.

As for the Prairie League, it’s set up in divisions where the teams see each other for three different weekends — meeting up at a central location each time. The first weekend was in Calahoo and the final one — the league playoffs — are in Unity, Sask. June 15-17. Softball Alberta provincials are in early July, prior to the Alberta Summer Games.

“We can beat anyone, anybody can beat anybody, it’s so skilled,” said Kelly, noting the league is a vast improvement over how the team had found games before. “We were jumping around, finding teams and little tournaments here or there. You didn’t know what you were getting in to.

“This has just been ideal. You’re thrown in a pool of what should be like-skilled teams. They set it up, find a draw, they make it easy.”

Being able to use the same bus as the Medicine Hat Mavericks (only when the Mavs aren’t on the road, of course) has lent to a fun experience for players and coaches alike.

“The girls all look forward to it. Coming home they’re all singing and doing weird stuff on the bus,” said Kelly.