The first few games of any sports team can set the tone for the rest of the season. The Drumheller Rage have already made it clear they’re looking for more gold.
    The Rage, Drumheller’s bantam girls softball team, are looking at another grand slam season. In their first four games of the season, the Rage have already picked up three wins.
    On Saturday, the Rage opened their season versus South Bow River 2. The weather was windy and cold, but the Rage prevailed with a colossal 23-9 win.
    Their second game was a rematch of last year’s Provincial Gold Medal game against the West Valley Sliders. The game was back and forth the Rage eventually ended up just short in the final inning, losing 11-10.
    The team didn’t let that bring them down and picked up two wins on Sunday versus both South Bow River teams, 18-6 and 16-6.
    The Rage are off to a great start, despite not having been able to practice outdoors until the weather warmed up last week.
    “We’re doing pretty good, considering we only had about an hour of outdoor practice. Otherwise, we’ve had to spend the past couple months inside throwing the ball around,” said Shari Fournier, head coach of the Rage. “Considering the late start, we haven’t done too bad.”
    Last season, the Rage was a powerhouse. The team took provincial gold in their own backyard, when Provincials were held at the Newcastle ball diamonds.
    Unfortunately for softball lovers, the team plays in Calgary and may only have a couple games in the Valley.
    “We’ve been looking at having a tournament again, but umpires are so hard to find. We couldn’t get any umpires for the weekend we had planned, so we probably won’t have a tournament this year. There are a couple of teams out of Calgary looking to come and play some exhibition games here. It’ll be nice, because that way the girls will have some home games and their families and friends can come and watch,” said Fournier.
    The girls are excited to finally get back on the field.
    “They’re pretty excited to get league started. I think they’re ready and they know what they have to do,” said Fournier. “They worked really hard last year and saw the fruits of their labour.”

    Badlands Lacrosse is getting a helping hand from the Calgary Roughnecks.
    On Saturday, $5 from every ticket sale, using a special code, will be donated to Badlands Lacrosse.
    “We’re getting $5 from the (Calgary) Roughnecks per ticket that’s purchased. The money will go towards promoting lacrosse in the area next season. We’re hoping to bring the Roughnecks to schools and have them do some demonstrations for the kids,” said Brandi Belliveau, vice president of Badlands Lacrosse.
    The game starts at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, at the Saddledome.
    Lacrosse season has been going steady for three weeks already.
    The Midget Raptors are looking for their first win of the season on Saturday when they take on the Innisfail Phantoms in the Drumheller Memorial Arena at 7 p.m.
    The Midget Raptors are heading into the game with a three game losing streak, being bested in their last outing 8-2 by the Red Deer Chiefs.
    The Pee Wee Raptors are also looking to break into the win column this weekend. On Friday, May 3, at 7 p.m., the Pee Wee’s will take on the Olds Stingers in the Drumheller Arena.
    “We’ve been having a tough go of it so far, but we have been improving. We had a  lot of new kids this year. The most important things we work on every practice are shooting, passing, catching, and positioning,” said Ren Dumaine, head coach of the Pee Wee Raptors.
    The Pee Wee’s were defeated 10-3 by the Sylvan Lake Buccaneers two weeks ago.
     The Novice Raptors have had a busy schedule so far, but are still looking for their first win of the season on Saturday when they host the Blackfalds Warriors at 4 p.m. in the Drumheller Arena.
    The Tykes are looking for some help to get their season off the ground.
    ““They’re having fun and learning, but we’re in desperate need of players. We only have seven kids and we need 12 to keep our team this year. We’re looking for kids to register late. It’s a requirement of the league that you have to have a minimum of 12 players,” said Dan Belliveau, head coach of the Tykes.
    Should the team not have 12 players soon, they will have to cancel their season. If that happens, they will still play as much as possible outside of the league.
    “We’ll continue to practice and pick up games with whoever we can, wherever we can,” said Belliveau.
    The Mini-Tykes are set to start their season this weekend when they take on the Red Deer Chiefs at the Drumheller Arena at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.