The Palmerston Marlins U-14 girls played some excellent ball on the trail to a division title at a national championship tournament.
The Marlins qualified for a spot at the 2016 Canadian National Jamboree in Winnipeg on Aug. 17 to 20, after capturing bronze at the Provincial Grands in Mississauga on July 30 and 31.
Team officials note players worked hard at gathering sponsorship before they hit the road to Nationals, and would like to thank everyone that contributed to their fund in one way or another.
Once the team arrived in Winnipeg it headed to the diamond to kick things off right away against the very talented host team, Smitty’s Terminators. The girls played hard and kept the reigning champs at 0-1 till the very last inning, but came up short in the end. Next up was the Saskatoon Hustlers and the Marlins came out on top with a score of 4-3.
Opening ceremonies took place after their games on Wednesday, each team was piped in and players recited the athlete’s pledge and then O Canada was played and the ceremonial first pitch was thrown out.
It was a tough day on the diamond for the Marlins on their second day of the tournament as they experienced a couple of losses to some very good teams, the Victoria Devils and Manitoba Thunder.
After round robin play the Palmerston Marlins were seated in the Smitty’s Terminator division.
Hitting the diamond on day three to start pool play, the team faced off against the Manitoba Phillies with a 6-3 win and then a great game that had lots of action against another Manitoba team – Central Energy, winning 8-7.
The Marlins were sitting number one in their division which means they would square off against the Phillies one more time.
On day three the Marlins did a little sightseeing and headed to “The Forks” and toured the market, took in the boat tour and learned a little more about the city they called home for a few days. Then, it was back to the John Blumberg Softball Complex for the final game of the tournament.
The Marlins struck early and never looked back. They took the gold medal in the Smitty’s division with a 7-0 mercy rule win over the Manitoba Interlake Phillies.
“All of the girls have worked very hard since training started in January and have definitely learned a great deal,” team officials state.
Teaching the girls along the way were coaches Pat Ash, Bruce Johnston, Melissa Lee and Ryan Martin. The players thanked them for their time and energy. The Palmerston Marlin Novice girls also thanked everyone who has been a part of their journey this season.
“The support means a great deal,” officials stated.
