The Ladysmith Chargers took on eight teams from across the province at the BC Provincial Championships and defeated seven of them handily to win softball gold.
“The team represented our region very proudly. We were in the BC Provincial Championships, taking place at Mundy Park in Port Coquitlam, along with 16 other teams," said Kris Kennedy of the Chargers. "They were all from across the province and they represented the best of all the teams in the various regions. Each team had to win their region to get to this tournament.”
The locals played all eight of their games in three days.
“Now that we finished in the top two, we get to play in the Westerns," Kennedy said. "Those are a championship tournament of all the best of the best across western Canada.”
That tournament is taking place in Port Alberni from Aug. 8 to 10.
“We are lucky it’s close to home, this year, for our friends and family to cheer the girls on,” Kennedy said.
The team has been a unit for almost six years but Kennedy said this will probably be the last season for this group.
"Some will have aged out and some will still stay with the program for another season,” he said. “Players have come and gone and come back again. We have added pieces, over the last few years, that fit in our team first environment and it has finally paid off."
Kennedy also commended the others responsible for the team’s rise to success.
“I would like to give a shoutout to the coaches and manager Chris Forsberg, Curtis and Jamie Slater. They have been fantastic,” he said. “In the end the team played for each other, they really do care for each other, they supported and stepped up and encouraged each other. They worked hard all year and they did it the right way with encouragement, confidence and had so much fun with this awesome season. These girls deserve this season and this title.”
It was a heavy couple of days for the team as their games on Friday, July 19 saw them beat Kelowna Heat 9 to 2 and then they beat Coquitlam Classics 9 to 2 as well. On Saturday, July 20 the Chargers beat the Ridge Meadows Pride 9 to 1 and then they suffered their only loss to Cloverdale Fury 4 to 3 and their last game on Saturday saw them beat Coquitlam Classics, again, 6 to 5.
Sunday's first semi final game saw the Chargers beat Langford Lightning 10 to 2 and then in the next semi final game they beat the Abbotsford Outlaws 12 to 3.
The final and gold medal game, on Sunday, saw the Chargers beat Abbotsford again, this time by a 4 to 2 score to capture the gold medal.
The team, consisting of Abby Smith, Jenna Forsberg, Emma Ross, Sophia Campo, Jessica Slater, Victoria Perry, Sophia Kennedy, Mercedes Johnson, Alivia Cousins, Ava Edmondson, Raquel Evans, Ashley Smart, Paige MacAdam and Karlee Poznecov will be honing their skills waiting for the Canadian Western Finals coming up in a few weeks.
