The Moose Jaw Ice are in the win column at the Softball Sask U15 AA Canadian championship in Brandon.
And in dramatic fashion too boot.
Facing B.C.’s View Royal Venom, the Ice trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh with runners on second and third and were down to their last strike when Ice hitter Blake Maltais sent a ground ball to third base. The throw to first would go wild, though, allowing Gracelyn Blanchard to score the tying run and Sophia Johnstone to slide home with the winner, giving the local crew a 3-2 victory and touching off a raucous celebration.
Scroll down past the ad to see how that all looked.
It had been a tough, low-scoring game to that point, as Moose Jaw starter Avery Garthus and B.C.s Jules Porter weren’t allowing a whole lot of offence.
The Venom scored a run in the top of the first inning and another in the fifth, but that’s all they’d get off of Garthus, who would go five innings and allow the two runs on two hits and four walks while striking out seven.
Moose Jaw scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth, as Tara Bell bunted for a lead-off base hit, stole second and third and scored when Davi Clarke sent a ground ball to first and forced the fielder’s choice.
Porter had allowed only three hits and struck out 16 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but Blanchard worked a lead-off walk and Johnstone reached on an error, setting up Maltais’ walk-off heroics.
Taryn Friesen pitched the final two innings for Moose Jaw and gave up two hits while striking out five.
The Ice face the Cloverdale Fury -- the fourth-ranked team out of B.C. -- later Thursday before playing two games Friday against Equipe du Quebec at 8:30 a.m. and the host Westman Magic at 11:30 a.m.
The top two teams from each of the four six-team round robin pools advance to the championship round, with the playoffs running all day Saturday, followed by the semifinals Sunday morning and gold medal game at 2 p.m.
You can follow along with all the scores on Gamechanger or by clicking right here.
