It was a golden weekend for the girls of the Drumheller Rage.
On Friday, May 31, the Rage headed north to Stettler to compete in their toughest tournament this season. The Rage returned to Drumheller bearing gold medals.
The tournament began on Friday evening with the Rage going up against Innisfail. The Rage came out strong, gaining a five run lead in the first inning. Innisfail battled back, but the Rage held on for a 10-5 victory.
Catcher Kali Fournier shone during the game, throwing out three runners trying to steal and score runs. Fournier was awarded game MVP.
Madison Heptonstall lays down a bunt in the Rage’s 10-5 win over Innisfail on Friday, May 31.
The following morning, the Rage took on the Czar Heat. The Heat was on and after two innings, the Rage were down 8-2. The Rage rallied and slowly chipped away until a break out sixth inning put the Rage in the lead. Game MVP Madison Heptonstall scored the winning run of the game.
The final game of round robin was against Lougheed. Thanks to a dominating pitching performance by Shae-Lynn Skytt, the Rage went on to a 14-3 win.
The Rage were ranked first overall after the round robin. Their next, and last game, was against the Killam Thunder. The two teams last met two years ago at the Pee Wee provincial finals, where the Rage lost.
The Rage started the game at bat and soon found themselves with a four run lead. However, the game was called off after intense rains. After, the fields were declared unplayable by umpires and the Rage were awarded the gold medals based on the round robin results.
“Although the girls are very excited and very proud of their win, obviously we all wanted to play out that final game. We’ve been looking forward to this rematch against Killam for 2 years and the team felt like they had something to prove. It was very encouraging to see them come out as strong as they did, scoring 4 quick runs,” said Shari Fournier, head coach of the Rage.
“It definitely gives us a lot of confidence heading into league finals and provincials at the end of the month.”
The Rage have their first home games of the season on Saturday, June 8, against the YMFL Calgary Bantam boys team at Newcastle ball diamond 1. The first game of the double header starts at 11 a.m., followed by another game at 2 p.m.
