By Spencer Seymour
This past Summer saw the U11 Girls Wilmot Thunder win the Ontario Rural Softball Association (ORSA) Championship July 5-7 in Alvinston.
After winning their first two round-robin games, the Thunder earned a buy into the finals of the tournament where they met Fisherville, one of the teams they had defeated during the round-robin.
Fisherville took an early lead in the first inning, but Wilmot quickly came back to tie it up. As the away team, Wilmot was up by five runs going into the bottom of the fifth inning and held Fisherville off the board with a groundout and two strikeouts by pitcher Mackenzie Hall to win the game.
The girls held their own at the plate, earning 47 hits and six in-the-park home runs between Hall, Gabby Hallman, Zephy Nicholls and Alyssa Smaglinski. The team also had excellent pitching highlighted by 18 strikeouts in the tournament.
Head coach Susan Hall credited the team’s all-around play in the tournament.
“The entire team’s aggression at the plate was one of the main contributors to winning the tournament,” Hall told the Gazette. “Additionally, the girls faced adversity when we learned that we were allowed to steal home in the tournament, which is something they had never been exposed to and hadn’t been covered as part of our season training. The girls did a fantastic job adjusting behind the plate as catchers to hold the other team at third and following the guidance of the coaches on the bases to earn a number of runs from steals at home.”
In the final game specifically, Hall said the team battled through high heat and stayed upbeat and supportive.
“The girls remained positive throughout the final game, celebrating each other’s personal accomplishments rather than being concerned with the score. It had been a long, very hot day, and they pushed through, built each other up and gave everything they had in that final game to earn the victory.”
The ORSA title is a significant accomplishment for the Wilmot Softball Association, which has worked hard to grow the girls’ side of the program in recent years. The team was also co-winners of the bronze medal at their year-end tournament, sharing the third-place prize due to inclement weather causing the bbronze-medal game to be cancelled.
Hall also noted how her group has improved this past season and what made the team “incredibly special.”
“From the start of the season, the girls have built a strong team bond. They support each other in games and practices and cheer for each other to do well. They were just as excited to spend time together in between games as they were to play. It’s a fun and positive environment. The friendships that were built on and off the diamond through the enjoyment of the game are incredibly special.
“The team's fundamental skills have improved tremendously over the season,” Hall continued. “Their confidence and focus they have at the plate and in the field as a result of those improvements made them the successful team that they proved to be in the tournament.”
Comments