NACI Tigers busy around the diamond
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Eoin Deveroux
The Neepawa Press
The Neepawa Tigers hit the home diamonds for a pair of games on Thursday, May 11. The boy’s baseball club were wrapping up their Zone Seven regular season with a showdown against the Carberry Cougars, while the girls’ fast-pitch squad started their regular season against Carberry as well. The fast-pitch team was able to end the day with a 17-14 victory, while the baseball team were defeated 17-11.
With the loss, the Tigers have ended the Zone Seven season with a record of 2-3. Previous results for NACI included victories over MacGregor and Rivers, and losses to William Morton (Gladstone) and Minnedosa. The zone playoffs will feature Carberry playing MacGregor and Minnedosa taking on William Morton.
As for the NACI Tigers fast pitch team, though they’ve played only one regular season game, they’ve still been busy with several recent tournaments. The club travelled to Portage la Prairie May 5-6, for the annual Saints Classic. In the round robin portion of the 15 team event, Neepawa tied the host club, the Portage Saints, 18-18, and then dominated the Virden Bears 13-3. Those results ensured them a place in the championship bracket.
In the semi-final showdown, NACI was defeated by the eventual tournament champions, the Garden Valley Zodiacs 13-5. That result put the Tigers into the third place game, which they won 12-10 over the Prairie Mountain Predators.
On May 12-13, NACI participated in the Garden Valley Invitational in Winkler. For this tournament, the Tigers played three times during the round robin. In those games, they were defeated by the Garden Valley Zodiacs 4-2 and the Boissevain Broncos 18-4, but did beat the Northlands Parkway Nighthawks 11-1. Due to their 1-2 record, Neepawa found themselves in the C-side playoff bracket.
In the C-side semi-final, NACI outpaced the Carman Cougars 10-8. That victory set up a showdown against the Killarney Raiders, who Neepawa were able to beat 12-11, solidifying the C-side crown. As for the championship bracket, Steinbach claimed top spot, with an 8-7 win over Portage.
The next league game for the Tigers was scheduled for Tuesday, May 16 in Carberry. Results will appear in the next edition of the Neepawa Press.
