The local squad was back on the field for a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Optimist Park and saw a bit of the good and a bit of the bad against the White Butte Storm, winning the opening game 3-1 before falling 6-4 in the second contest.
Basically the sister-kisser of results for a twinbill. But when there were many questions as to if there would even be a season at all as little as a month ago, it’s all fine and well.
“It was really hard hoping, spending two or three months hoping that there would be ball just with ourselves, never mind with 11 and 12 year olds,” said Ice coach Rick Adrian. “Practicing, going out and playing catch, what’s the point, right? But as soon as ‘play ball’ happened, I’ve had parents come to me and say their kids told them they weren’t allowed to go camping, we’ve had kids who are like ‘I’m not going to that birthday party, I want to be here’.
“If we had two more games tonight, they wouldn’t complain in the slightest, and as it is we have two more tomorrow and they’re jacked,” he added, referring to their doubleheader against Lumsden Sunday evening.
That enthusiasm is certainly helped by the fact the U12 Ice have a decent squad this season and have shown they can win the high-scoring slugfests and low-scoring battles.
The first game Saturday was a perfect example, as the Ice were able to use their pitching depth to hang on for the two-run win.
“I absolutely love it,” Adrian said of the contest. “Those low scoring games, that’s ball. That first game was a pitcher’s duel, those are fun, fun games. Not a lot of walks, putting the ball in play and having fun. Then seeing the defensive plays, that’s huge, getting the ball and being able to make the play and throwing a ton of strikes.”
All in all, it’s all about developing and improving as much as possible in the short season they have – and if everything works out with the COVID-19 pandemic, hopefully being in top form if a provincial tournament is allowed.
“We’re really looking to keep developing,” Adrian said. “We start a season and our main goal is provincials. We’re building up the team, we’re building pitchers, we’re building up catchers, trying to get to provincials. Any one game, it’s nice to win them, but we don’t really put that much emphasis on any single game.”
Ice 3, Storm 1
Avery Garthus and Marisa Montgomery each scored runs in the third inning to give Moose Jaw a 2-0 lead, and that would be enough to get the job done as a platoon of four pitchers held the Storm to their single run.
Kiarra Adrian got the start and tossed two scoreless innings without allowing a run and striking out four before Montgomery took over and gave up the one run on two hits while striking out five. Kensington Demassi took over in the fifth and held White Butte without a hit in two innings, striking out three; Avery Garthus closed things out with two strikeouts in the final inning.
Storm 6, Ice 4
White Butte scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to overcome a 4-2 deficit and secure the come-from-behind win.
An early 1-0 Storm lead held until the fifth, when the Ice put up four runs of their own to take the lead. White Butte got one back in their half of the inning before staging their game-winning rally.
Demassi, Tara Bell, Taya Molde and Blake Maltais scored runs for Moose Jaw.
Montgomery allowed a run on two hits and three Ks through the first two innings, Garthus didn’t allow a hit and struck out five through the fourth. Gracelyn Blanchard tossed the final two innings, giving up five runs on a single hit and eight walks while striking out two.
