Their season might not have had the storybook ending they had hoped for, but the Moose Jaw U17 A Ice will be coming home from the Softball Canada national championships with plenty of pride in their accomplishments just the same.
The Ice put together a 3-2 record through the tournament round robin to finish a single win away from the championship round before losing their first game in the single-elimination consolation side.
After their come-from-behind win over Ontario’s LaSalle Athletics on Thursday morning, the Ice played a pair of games Friday, opening with a 9-0 loss to Whitby Eagles Aquanno before battling to a 10-6 win over Equipe Quebec Rak to close out their round robin.
That sent them into the consolation quarter-final, where an 5-0 defeat at the hands of the New Brunswick Selects saw their season come to an end.
Whitby 9, Moose Jaw 0
The Ice couldn’t get much going off Whitby pitcher Chloe Hocquard, who would allow only three baserunners in the contest on two hits and a walk.
Makena Simmons and Haily Molde accounted for all the Moose Jaw offence with the aforementioned base hits.
Katie Newberry got the start in the circle and allowed four runs on four hits in two innings, Ava Unser closed things out and hit hard by errors, allowing five unearned runs on two hits and four walks in four innings.
Moose Jaw 10, Equipe Quebec 6
Moose Jaw’s offence was back on track in their second game.
After Quebec took a 4-1 lead, the Ice put up a pair of runs in the third before breaking out with a five-run fifth inning to take control of the game.
Aubrey Clarke had a solid contest at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a run and five RBI, while Macy Litzenberger was 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Brooklyn Miller and Ashley Breitkreuz each crossed the plate twice.
Unser allowed five runs on seven hits and four walks while striking out six in six innings of work, Miller closed things out and allowed a single run in the seventh.
New Brunswick 5, Moose Jaw 0
The Ice had runners in scoring position three times in their Saturday contest but just couldn’t come up with the big hit when they needed it.
Conversely, New Brunswick made the most of their opportunities with single runs in the first and second, two more in the first and another in the sixth to take the win.
All told, five ice players had a single hit in the game.
Unser went six innings and allowed four runs, two earned, on four hits while striking out seven; Newberry pitched one inning and allowed a run on two hits.
