It might say the South Bow River Wildcats on the trophies for the Softball Alberta Midget D provincial and Calgary Softball League championships, but there was strong foothills area representation.
Okotokians Megan Hansen, Brina Clark and Bailey McLellan and Blackie’s Kassey Wells all played key roles in the Wildcats winning the provincial championship in Leduc on July 1 and then the Calgary championship on July 5.
The Wildcats won them both due to some late game heroics from the foothills gals.
They downed host Leduc 9-7 to win the provincial title and Clark had to pitch the final inning of relief for the Wildcats.
“It was really nerve-wracking because they (Leduc) got the tying run on first base with just one out,” Clark said. “They got a single and then I walked a batter on four straight pitches — that really got me mad.”
Putting the tying run on base on four straight pitches usually means the hurler is on the verge of a breakdown, however, Clark pulled herself together.
“I was able to strike out the next batter on three straight and then the next girl grounded out to me and I threw it to (first baseman) Kassey for the final out,” Clark said.
The Wildcats breezed through the round robin and playoffs with a 5-0 record before reaching the final against Leduc. Things got a little hairy when they fell behind 5-2 in the final.
“It was frustrating because we had beat Leduc 12-0 earlier,” McLellan said.
However, they rallied to take the lead midway through the game.
Hansen drove in a pair of runs in the fifth inning giving the Wildcats a 6-5 lead. McLellan was one of the runs that came in after hitting a Texas leaguer over second base.
The Wildcats would not give up the lead again en route to the provincial championship.
However, the Wildcats weren’t quite done yet. They went on to win the Calgary Minor Softball Midget championship by downing Drumheller 4-3 on July 5 — scoring the winning run in their last at bat.
Hansen got the game-winning hit when she hit a rope through the hole on the left side of the infield.
“I just went up there and she (the Drumheller pitcher) threw me the perfect pitch and I hit it between the shortstop and the third baseman to score the run,” Hansen said. “I wasn’t that nervous because I thought there was only one out.
“I was thinking if I go out, it’s no big deal the next girl can do it.”
The next girl never got a chance after Hansen drove in the championship run.
The four girls wound up playing for the Calgary team because there are no teams in the foothills at their level.
“It’s okay,” McLellan said about not being able to play in Okotoks. “That’s just the way it is. It was nice because I like the girls in Calgary too.”
It was not the first time the four girls have been on a provincial championship team. However, the last time they did it, it was in winter and they were wearing hockey gloves not baseball gloves.
They were all members of the Okotoks Oilers Midget A hockey team, which won the provincial championship in 2011.
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