Adam Prudhomme
Editor
The home team Napanee Novice Express girls’ run at last weekend’s PWSA Qualifier ended a bit sooner than the team anticipated, exiting after three games.
Napanee opened the tournament with a hard fought sea-saw 14-11 win over the Corunna Giants on Friday night.
An 11-4 loss to Stittsville on Saturday morning followed by a 12-4 loss to the Palmerston Marlins in the early afternoon ended the hosts’ tournament run.
“One less win than I was kind of hoping for,” said Express head coach Kurtis Jackson. “I thought we were going to make it to the evening game on Saturday, but it wasn’t in the cards.”
Despite falling behind early in their final two games, and playing in the sweltering July heat, Jackson said the team continued to battle right until the final out.
“The girls fought through and never stopped all three games,” said the coach. “I was pretty pleased and proud to see that.”
Elayna Jackson of the Napanee Novice Express slides in safely with a stolen base. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
With their 1-2 record, Napanee qualified for the ‘B’ tier of the Grand Championships, which will take place Aug. 9-11 in Cambridge, On.
“The other teams that ended up (in the ‘B’ bracket), we line up pretty good against them, including the team we beat Friday night,” said Jackson.
Napanee Novice Express pitcher Kristen Sutton fields a bunt attempt and throws to first. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Napanee will look to take the lessons learned from the qualifier and work on a few things in league play to get ready for next month’s Grand Championships.