The U-16 Pride did their hometown Ridge Meadows Minor Softball proud, winning a tournament hosted at Albion Park over the weekend.
The local association hosted its annual Summer Series softball tournament, with 28 elite teams from across the Lower Mainland. There were two Under-16 Pride teams, and they finished first and second after round-robin play. When the dust finally cleared on the sun-baked infields at Albion, the U-16 99 team had won it all.
Coached by Tom Bowen, the team is one of the tops in the province, and will be in the hunt for a B.C. championship with the tournament is held here on July 24.The Pride U-18 team placed second in their division, but suffered a heartbreaking loss in the first round of the playoffs.
They trailed the Fusion 98 team by a score of 4-1, but rallied in the final inning to knot the game at 4-4. Bobbi Berkey, who is on her way to Texas on an athletic scholarship, hammered a two-run homer that cleared the fence in a last inning rally to send the game into extra innings.
The Fusion regained the lead, and held on to win 5-4.
The next event on the calendar for Ridge Meadows Minor Softball will be the Under-14 softball provincials, to be hosted at Albion Park on July 17-19.