The Strathmore Thunder U15 Div1 Sevcik team won gold at this week's city championships in the Calgary Minor Softball Association, earning a decisive 12-5 win over Westhill Antaya in the championship match.
Head Coach David Sevcik said the team really pulled away at the top of the fourth inning, as they scored more than half their runs that inning and never looked back. That dominant inning was a microcosm of an incredible season where they went 16-1, which Sevcik said was all thanks to the team's depth.
"We had four strong pitchers, so it's always nice when you have that kind of depth in your pitching and our bats certainly all the way up through the lineup 1 through 12, we had strong bats. When you have strong pitching and strong bats in baseball, it usually turns out well," he said.
Being such a dominant team comes with its own challenges some may not think about, as Sevcik explained that level of success comes with a lot of pressure to deliver in the playoffs. It was a double-elimination playoff and the Thunder lost their first playoff game, meaning another loss would knock them out for good. Despite the pressure of being close to elimination and also having to live up to expectations, Sevcik said the team's mental toughness really came through.
"Nobody panicked, it was business as usual when we were doing warm-ups and starting our games. I think the girls knew they had it, they just had to execute."
While they officially went 16-1, the team played way more games than that, as Sevcik said they attended many tournaments that wouldn't have counted toward the team's record. Playing close to 50 games, Sevcik said they had many other highlights this year, such as winning gold in May at a tournament hosted in Strathmore, and putting in a great showing at provincials with a fourth place finish.
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Fri, May 3, 10:00 AM
