“Thank you, Summerland!”

That is what Summerland Girls Softball Association president Carol Van Balkom heard all weekend as 16 teams competed for the Midget C Girls Fastball Provincials this past weekend at Dale Meadows Complex.

“There’s been nothing but compliments, we’re thrilled,” Van Balkom said.

She noted that this is the second year Summerland has hosted the province-wide competition.

“Two in a row is a lot of work when you don’t have a big volunteer base.”

She added that many volunteers were at the fields from seven in the morning until late at night for each day of the tournament.

The Summerland Scorch Midget C girls started their round-robin play with a game against Fleetwood (Surrey.)

This game was a thrill to watch, as it was tied at nine at the end of regulation time and was forced into a tie-breaker.

Fleetwood brought home a run before being shut down. Summerland answered by bringing a run home, tying the game again at 10.

Once again the teams entered overtime. Fleetwood brought a run in again, but unfortunately the Scorch could not answer back.

At the end of nine innings and 33 minutes of overtime, Fleetwood edged ahead with an 11-10 win.

Game 2 versus Nanaimo saw the Scorch playing their game of hard hits, fast base running and great defensive plays to seal the win with an 8-1 mercy.

Game 3 against Abbotsford was a close match-up. Both teams struggled to get the lead, but Abbotsford took the win 5-3.

Game 4 versus Quesnel saw the girls back on their bats and playing their game to an impressive win, mercying Quesnel 13-3.

 After the round-robin leading to a double knockout, the teams remaining were Strawberry Vale, Abbotsford, Vernon, Gibsons, New Westminster and Fleetwood.

The Summerland Scorch came in seventh, ending up just out of the playoffs.

The round-robin continued on Sunday with Vernon, Strawberry Vale, and Gibsons staying on the winning side.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, Vernon and Gibsons met in a heated game.

Vernon won it in the end, continuing on to play Strawberry Vale who had not lost a game all weekend.

The final game opened with Vernon going ahead in the first, but Strawberry Vale fought back during each inning.

Vernon got ahead on batting, and took the final in the seventh inning.

 We are very proud of the girls and would like to thank them for all their hard work and dedication to their team and coaches. 

The members of the Summerland Scorch team are as follows:  Laura Black, Kelsey and Melissa Carter, Kelsey Dobson, Katelyn Goltz, Kim Jones, Cassie Marshall, Gurine and Ashley Richard, Heidi Spencer, Melissa Udala, Nicole Weir and Amber Stetsko.

A big thank-you also to Lindsay Horvath and Rebecca Lumsden, both from Kelowna for playing with the Summerland Scorch team during the provincial championships.

The girls would also like to thank their coaches for all their hard work and dedication; Brad Smith, Ray Marshall, Ingrid Carter and Diane Goltz.

Van Balkom and the Summerland Girls Softball Association would like to thank Mayor Janice Perrino for opening the tournament and give a special thank-you to all the merchants who donated funds and merchandise for the gift bags and baskets.

A huge thank-you to all the volunteers who donated their time to make this event such a success. 

A very special thank you to Bill Coldwell for the announcing and music all weekend. Also to  Joe, Cynthia, Lindsea, and Odessa Cutt, Darren Griener and Ingrid and Terry Carter for all their hard work.