The Fraser Valley Fusion are hoping to add to their hardware as the defending B.C. champions begin play at the national bantam A girls’ fastpitch tournament this week.

The 93 Fusion are in Oakville, Ont. for the national championships, which begin today (Wednesday).

The team earned a spot at the prestigious event, after knocking down all the challengers at the provincial championships in Nanaimo earlier this month (July 17-19).

The Fusion will be joined at nationals by the Richmond Islanders 93, the team Fraser Valley defeated twice to win the B.C. crown.

And the team needed some heroics to advance to the championship.

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning and down to their final out, the Fusion rallied to score three times and win 5-4.

The offence was paced by Jaycee Affeldt, who went 4-for-4, and Sarah Hillsdon, who went 3-for-4.

Alisha Van Loo had a run-scoring double in the decisive seventh inning, while Hillsdon’s double scored the last two runs.

Now in the championship final, and facing the Islanders once again, Affeldt delivered a shut-out performance on the mound in a 2-0 victory.

Fraser Valley went 3-1 in the round robin, edging the 94 Fusion 2-1 in the opener, before a pair of back-to-back shutouts, 9-0 over the Ridge Meadows Pride 94 and 8-0 over the 94 Surrey Storm.

Affeldt was solid on the mound, not allowing a single run in those latter two games.

Jenna Neufeld took care of the bulk of the offence against the Pride, knocking out four hits and three RBIs. Danielle Raison was also perfect at the dish, going 3-for-3. Haley Clark also came up with a big hit.

Tessa Loewen crossed home plate three times against the Storm, while Katie Schmuck scored twice and Jaymee Foster had one run.

The Fusion’s final round robin game did not go as well as the first three, as the White Rock Renegades won decisively, 10-1.

Now through to the playoff round, Fraser Valley opened with a 5-1 win over the Victoria Devils 94.

Raison had a triple in the game and scored twice, while Olivia Hornstein was 2-for-4 with one run scored and Tamara Dickie was 3-for-3 with a double.

The team then got a measure of revenge as the defeated the Renegades 11-5.

Loewen went 5-for-5 and scored three of her team’s runs, while Kaitlyn Cameron belted out three hits and also scored twice.

Following the national championships, both Affeldt and Loewen will represent Canada in Prague as members of the U16 junior national team.