Excelling in all aspects of the game, Surrey Storm ’95 captured the Futures (under-18) Select championship at the Scotiabank Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship Tuesday evening at Softball City.
“We played very good defensively, and got some great pitching,” said coach Dennis Rieder. “And offensively, we were pretty good, too. So it was an all around effort by the team.”
Allowing just four runs in four round robin games, the Storm got a scare in a semifinal contest earlier in the day, needing to go to extra innings before defeating the Abbotsford Outlaws.
Surrey had no trouble with the Outlaws in a round robin game Saturday night, cruising to an 11-1 victory.
After struggling in the semifinal round, the Storm “got back on track” in the championship game, hammering the Ridge Meadows Rage 10-1.
Kelsey McDonald and Karlee Takasaki were standouts in the pitcher’s circle, with infielders Regan Cumiskey at shortstop and Hayley Brooks at second base initiating a number of double plays.
Leading the Storm at the plate were Jenna Desmarais and Samantha Morrell.
Other members of the Storm are Kendall Boone, Kristina Graham, Christina Grant, Alexandra Hunter, Krysta Ivens, Heather McFarlane, and Kourtney Rieder.
Ridge Meadows reached the final by upsetting the North Delta Sunfire 7-1 in their semifinal contest. North Delta won all four round robin contests, giving up just six runs and shutting out the Rage 10-0.
In Showcase (16-and-under) Select division, three teams from Surrey advanced to the semifinal round, but it was the Duncan Red Hots heading home with the championship.
Seeded second for the eight-team playoff round, Duncan edged the Fleetwood Force ’96 4-3 in Tuesday afternoon’s final. The Red Hots stopped Surrey Storm ’96 2-1 in a semifinal game earlier in the day.
Fleetwood earned the top seed by allowing just one run in winning all four round robin contest. In a semifinal game, they edged the Surrey Storm ’97 2-1, a team which was seeded third after winning all four of its round robin contests.