Pure Venoms continue to lead Calgary softball division

    The Drumheller Pure Venoms bantam girls fastpitch team are continuing their winning ways with a record of 11-1 as of Monday afternoon.     The girls are leading their Calgary Minor Softball association division after coming off an 11-6 win against one South Bow River team last Wednesday and another SBR team 6-5 on Monday, both in Calgary. They’re averaging 15 runs per game.
    They lead the division’s second round standings with 16 points with three wins and a loss, and have a plus-22 runs for minus runs against record. SBR 2’s trail four points behind them. They’re currently tied as bantam girls league leaders with Airdrie.
    “We’ve put together a really good program over the winter,” says assistant coach Doug Peters, adding a number of players have been playing ball with other clubs over the year. “It shows a number of them have been taking more interest in the sport and improving that way.”
    “The coaching staff is very excited how we’ve been progressing,” said Peters. There are five members of the staff: head coach Brent Sands, Peters, manager Kari-Ann Faubion, pitching coach Ross Lessler, and coach Winnie Schmidt. “We lean on each other,” Peters says.
    The 11 players on the roster have been travelling to Calgary to compete every Monday and Wednesday.
    “We’ve really just been playing well as a team and we’ve had some returning players from last year,” Peters says when asked to explain the success of the Venoms this year. “They’re getting a little bigger and stronger so the hitting is improving, and we are pretty deep in the pitching. We have a long list of pitchers, with five great ones on the team.”
    “It’s really just developing your skills as a team. Each player has grown from previous years and have been building together.”
    He also attributes their success to the five coaching positions which have allowed them to focus on specific areas of play. Parents and players are also committing nearly four hours of driving time twice a week to get to games in Calgary.
    “It’s for the kids and for the team, so there’s a huge commitment the parents are putting forward which is paying off this year,” Peters says. “We’re really trying to do the best thing for the kids to get them involved in the sport.”
    The hopes of getting a few home games this season are dashed, says Peters, as the Calgary teams are not willing to travel to Drumheller.
    But the players are liking the level of competition a bigger city league brings, he says.
    They’ll be playing the South Bow River 2 team tonight, and SBR 3 on Monday, both in Calgary.