The U14 Bonnyville Angels B team have been training, practicing, and playing with one goal in mind: getting to provincials.
“All the tournaments we’ve been going to are meant to move us up a level for provincials,” expressed catcher Morganne Baxter. “Our goal is to win a medal in provincials, that’s what we want.”
The team have participated in three tournaments this season, and brought home hardware in two of them.
Their most recent tournament was the one they hosted in Muriel Lake on June 18, where they went undefeated
Since there weren’t enough teams in Zone 7 to hold a provincials qualifying tournament, the Angels simply had to declare their interest and were entered into one of the pools of five.
Head coach Mike DeAbreu said in order to prepare for the big leagues, the team has been focusing on improving their hitting and defence.
“When we went to St. Albert, our defence was good and our pitching was phenomenal,” he explained. “But, our hitting was our biggest weakness.”
The players have been working hard to advance on their averages at bat, and have noticed the development in technique during games.
“We’ve really improved on our hitting,” noted Baxter. “We’ve had better reactions to the pitches, and how we react to the ball in defence.”
With all of the hard work the girls have done, DeAbreu’s excited heading into provincials.
“These girls have picked up their games a whole bunch. We had one girl in Llyodminster hit two home runs over the fence.”
While many of the girls played on different teams this year, they chose to tryout for the Angels B team for the chance to compete on a higher level.
“It’s a higher experience than house league,” explained pitcher Leanne DeAbreu. “In house league, it’s more casual. Here we can play more competitive.”
Players believe in the importance of getting to know your team off the field.
“The bonds are the best part,” explained Baxter. “When you all start to get to know each other, you do better in the field.”
As the second highest level of softball team, B teams don’t participate in house league games.
Girls interested in playing provincially had to participate in three separate tryouts.
According to DeAbreu, there were roughly 39 players who attended.
The provincial tournament is July 6 to 8 in Sherwood Park.
