The Sooke Mavericks, an all-girl fast-pitch team, capped off an amazing season with a silver medal at the U14B Provincial Championships in Abbotsford July 12-14.
The team played more than 50 games during the regular season with only four losses. They won gold in four out of five tournaments and went undefeated in Districts to win gold and secure the opportunity to represent District 1 at Provincials.
At Provincials, the Mavericks faced West Kootenay, Abbotsford, Richmond and Cloverdale in the round robin and went undefeated again with three wins and a tie. In the championship round they played South Delta winning 7-5 and South Surrey/White Rock winning 3-1 to lead to the final where they again faced South Surrey/White Rock Thunder. This time, the Thunder came out on top with the same score of 3-1.
The Mavericks had the overall best standings, having lost only one game game in the entire tournament.
Coach Len Sudlow dropped by the Sooke News Mirror office to share his enthusiasm about the girls’ success, attributing it to the supportive nature of the girls. When someone makes an error, said Sudlow, there is never a bad word said or a bad look exchanged. No one is ever singled out.
“We are all one team,” he said, his eyes shining with uncontainable enthusiasm. Sudlow pointed out that the Abbottsford team, who hosted the event, had about 200 girls try out to play. Sooke, on the other, had 11 who showed up, and so 11 played. These players go to school together, do social events together, and, on this team, grow together.
Sudlow also had high praise for the team’s manager, Marni Radford.
Radford echoed that sentiment in her correspondence. “It was a complete team effort with every single player contributing to the team’s success all season.” She extended congratulations to everyone.
Marni Radford, Manager