Sabres seek elusive fastpitch title

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/05/2017 (2492 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Understandably tired of being bridesmaids at the Provincial High School Girls’ Fastpitch Championships, the SRSS Sabres will be pulling out all the stops in their attempts to win their first provincial crown at the championships, which they are hosting this weekend at Mitchell.

The Sabres were ranked second going into the provincial championships in each of the past two years and ended up losing in the finals to the Portage Trojans on both occasions, including last year in Boissevain.

This year the Sabres again come into provincials ranked second behind the top ranked Boissevain Broncos. Portage comes in as the third seed and Stonewall fourth as each of those teams are the favourites to win their respective pools in the 12-team tourney.

TERRY FREY/ THE CARILLON
The SRSS Sabres are the host team at the Provincial High School Girls' Fastpitch Championships this weekend  in Mitchell.
TERRY FREY/ THE CARILLON The SRSS Sabres are the host team at the Provincial High School Girls' Fastpitch Championships this weekend in Mitchell.

SRSS is competing in a pool that includes seventh-ranked Neepawa and 10th-ranked Sturgeon Heights from Winnipeg.

Three diamonds will be used at Mitchell on Friday for pool play and then two on Saturday for the playoffs.

Competition begins at 9:00 a.m. on Friday. The Sabres will open play Friday at 10:45 a.m. against Sturgeon Heights and then take to the field again Friday at 1:30 p.m. against the Neepawa Tigers.

All twelve teams make the playoffs, with the second and third place teams from each pool playing in the opening playoff round late Friday afternoon.

The winners of each pool advance straight to Saturday morning`s quarter-finals. The semi-finals will be Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and the championship game at 4:00 p.m.

Opening ceremonies and the provincial championship banquet will be Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the SRSS.

Although the Sabres were already in the provincials as the host team, they also rolled through the Zone 13 championships last week in Steinbach, dispatching all comers with ease over the two-day affair, defeating Gabrielle Roy 9-2 in the final.

The Sabres have been taking care of business, doing everything they could in recent weeks to get ready for these championships that they are hosting.

They have competed in three tournament along the way which included all of the top contenders, winning the Garden Valley tournament and placing second at the Boissevain tourney, losing to Boissevain in the final. They also sidelined their old nemesis, the Portage Trojans, in a tournament the Trojans were hosting in early May.

Boissevain and SRSS split the two games they played this year, “I thought we might have been seeded first, Boissevain was, that’s OK,” said head coach Lawney Penner, “I think it could have been a coin flip between the two teams.”

If all goes true to form, the Sabres would face Portage in the semis, “I think Portage could be the team to beat,” said Penner, “we would have to play them anyway, the top three teams here, including us, all have a chance to win.”

As far as playing at home is concerned, Penner likes to think that might give the Sabres a slight advantage. “Just being at home, not having to be in a hotel, when we have breaks, it can be more relaxing, hopefully that plays to our advantage.”

 

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