The Valley Valkyries competed hard but fell just short in a six- team U16 girls tournament the team hosted in Rosthern on July 11.
Teams were divided into two pools to start the tournament and played a round-robin amongst their respective group.
The Valkyries dropped their opening game to the Saskatoon Raiders which resulted in a 9-5 decision. Valley actually led 5-2 after three innings, however, Saskatoon plated seven runs in the fifth inning.
The Valkyries’ final game of the round-robin was against the Tisdale Riverdogs and it ended in a 3-3 tie. According to Valley
Valkyries head coach Lyle Funk, the team fell behind early but the girls continued to grind it out to tie it in the later innings, showing their resiliency.
The tournament concluded with the “final” round where the first place teams in each pool played in the “A-Final,” the second place teams competed in the “B-Final” and the third place teams battled it out in the “C-Final.”
Valley competed in the “C-Final,” but despite playing in close games in the round-robin the Valkyries lost 11-2 to the Kerrobert Kougars.
“Obviously our last game wasn’t our best game but we feel if we play good we can compete with anybody in a tournament like that,” said Funk.
The Parkland (Shellbrook) Predators defeated the Saskatoon Raiders 1-0 in the “A-Final” while the Tisdale Riverdogs were the winners of the “B-Final,” after defeating the Unity Panthers.
Even though the Valkyries didn’t have the outcome they wanted in the tournament, overall the team is having a successful season so far. As of July 12, the Valkyries are on top of the U16 B division of the Saskatoon Minor Softball League, as they only have one loss in league play.
According to Funk, this is the second year of the Valkyries team, but a core group of about five players have been playing together since the U12 division.
The Valkyries consist of players from Rosthern, Hague, Laird, Radisson and Shell Lake.
Although this season hasn’t been ideal because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Funk was happy that the team had the opportunity to play the sport and develop as athletes.
“A lot of other sports couldn’t go (earlier in the year) because they were inside and we’ve been lucky enough to be outside and be able to play in the spring,” he said.
Despite the condensed season, the Valkyries have grown as a team and want to finish the season off strong.
Funk said there will be no league playoffs because of the late start, so the Valkyries will conclude its season at the Softball Saskatchewan U16 Open Girls Provincial Championship tournament in Regina from July 23 to 25.
The tournament will feature U16 teams from across the province.
Karter Johnson, of the Valley Valkyries, is just a tad late getting back to first base and she was retired via the force out during a U16 tournament game in Rosthern on July 11