Ryleigh Jackiw and Julia Plouffe (13) play catch at a Medicine Hat Thunder U14B practice on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021 in Redcliff.--NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat U14B Thunder have set their sights on the podium as hosts of this weekend’s Softball Alberta championship.
The nine-team tournament descends Friday on the Moose Ball Complex, and Thunder catcher Hayley Grad says she’s feeling confident given the way her Hat squad works as a unit.
“I think we’ll do pretty good,” said Grad, who also plays second base. “We all work together really well and we all form as a team together really well. We all get along and we know how we all play with each other.”
The Thunder went 10-3 in their first season as a member of Girls Prairie League Baseball. While they missed out on the championship with a semifinal loss, coach Chris Grad says they certainly made a name for themselves in the league and are ready to push for a provincial title this weekend.
“I think the girls represented Medicine Hat very well and we turned a lot of heads. I think, just coming from Medicine Hat, people weren’t sure what to expect and we came out really strong and did really well,” he said. “I think we’re going to give everyone a good run for their money.”
Chris added the Thunder have played in every corner of the province this season except their own backyard, so it’ll be a welcome change to take the field in front of a home crowd.
“We don’t get a lot of games here. We’ve had to travel to Stony Plain and Sherwood Park and Wainwright and Irma to play games. We played a couple games in Brooks,” he said. “It’ll be nice to play at home and have some games for our fans here, let the girls feed off some of that energy and show them what we can do.”
Hayley says the last time the Thunder played a game on home turf was the last time they hosted provincials, two years ago.
“It’s nice because friends and family can all come at watch,” she said. “We can have everybody just come and pack the park.”
Medicine Hat opens the tournament Friday at 9 a.m. against the Strathmore Thunder. They’ll return to the diamond at 3 p.m. that afternoon to take on the Red Deer Rage before closing out the opening round on Saturday with an 11 a.m. game against the Lloydminster Liners and a 5 p.m. showdown against the Calgary West Hill Vipers.
A tiebreaker game is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday if needed, with championship play set for Sunday.
Semifinal action gets going at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, followed by the championship and third-place games at 12:30 p.m.
