Tigers coach proud of her team after provincial championship win over weekend
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- Published on Monday, June 2, 2014
By: Lanny Stewart
myWestman.ca
The Neepawa Tigers didn't want history to repeat itself this year at the provincial high school girls fastpitch championship in Altona.
After falling in the championship final a year ago, Neepawa scored early and often en route to a convincing 12-2 victory over the Lorette Scorpions in the final on Saturday. The championship win was the school's first ever provincial fastpitch title.
"I think it was a fantastic experience for the girls," said Tigers coach Krista Moffatt. "Our bats were on fire on Saturday."
Moffatt says not only was the lineup racking up hits and driving in runs in the championship final, the team's defence really showed up in the contest. Moffatt says at one point in the game, the Scorpions had bases loaded with nobody out, however the Tigers responded by keeping Lorette off the scoresheet.
The second-seeded Tigers began the tournament with a 3-1 loss to Killarney on Friday morning, but were able to rebound with a 12-9 win over Morden and would later pick up a tightly-contested 11-10 victory over Stonewall later that day.
"The girls were very nervous in that first game," said Moffatt. "In the final inning, we started to play more like ourselves.
"We just told them to play with confidence," she continued.
On Saturday, the Tigers advanced to the playoffs where they edged the host WC Miller Aces 12-11 in a closely-contested quarter-final contest that was back-and-forth all day. Moffatt says the turning point came in the sixth inning when Jayme Kulbacki started a double play in the field, which "broke their hearts a little," she says.
The Tigers would later double up the No. 1 seed Portage Saints 14-7 to advance to the final. Amy Todoruk of the Tigers was named the tournament MVP, while Taylor Allen and Emma Schmall were named all-stars.
The rest of the Tigers roster includes Brooke Anderson, Robyn Birch, Marissa Crooke, Emily Dobson, Dana Friesen, Jenna Heschuk, Kendra Kostenchuk, Abby Krzyzaniak, Sydney McLaughlin and Cecily Taylor. Don Schmall meanwhile, helped Moffatt as a coach this season.
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