Jayden Moen (14) slides in to home plate after hitting a seventh-inning home run, also bringing home Courtlyn Bertoia. Teammate Brooklyn Schmaltz (10) takes it all in. Their seventh-inning runs pulled the Kindersley Royals squirt girls softball team to within three of the Edam Blue Sox. But the Blue Sox struck out the next three batters to win the bronze-medal game, 17-14, at the under-12, C girls softball north provincial playoffs, held in Rosetown on July 6-8.

Clarion staff

The Kindersley Royals squirt girls softball team placed  fourth among eight teams at the under-12 C girls north provincial playoffs in Rosetown on July 6-8 but played competitively.

The Edam Blue Sox beat them 17-14 in the bronze-medal game. That came after a semifinal game in which the eventual champions, the Shellbrook Heat, beat them 17-10.

Shellbrook pounded the host Rosetown Angels 17-2 in the final.

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“It was a good weekend. We were hoping to do better. We gave Shellbrook a pretty good game,” said Royals head coach Jason Stevens.

In the seventh and last inning against Edam, trailing 17-12, Jayden Moen hit a home run that also drove in Courtlyn Bertoia and brought some excitement and hope.

But the next three Royals struck out to end the game.

The Kindersley girls placed second in the White Pool after the round robin. They hammered the Watrous Royals 14-3 on Friday night, lost the closest game of the weekend, 11-10, to Edam midday Saturday and beat the Hudson Bay Lazers 12-7 that evening.

Still, their finish left “a little disappointment. We thought we had probably a silver-medal team,” said Stevens.

Still, they had some good performances, he said.

“Gracee Wagner pitched very good for us all weekend.”

Asked about others, Stevens was reluctant to mention one, that being his daughter. But Ayla Stevens had a good weekend batting and getting on base, he said.

“Overall, the girls did really good. They got better as the year went on,” said Stevens who had coaching and management help that weekend from Ted Stevens and Amanda Bertoia. Tammy Torrens, who also usually helps, had to be at under-16 C girls provincials at Langenburg on the weekend.

The team consisted of close to half first-year and half second-year players, which should mean a good core of girls for next year, he said.

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