CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The West Royalty Rockets erased a six-run deficit in the final two innings to earn a provincial championship with a 9-8 extra-innings victory Sunday in Charlottetown.
The Rockets, self-proclaimed the Strikers, went 6-0 at provincials after defeating the Stratford Stealers in the under-12 AA girls’ softball championship game.
“This team came full circle and worked their tails off all summer, never missing games or practices,” said Rockets’ coach Chris Halliwell. “We went from putting zero balls in play and one ball in play in Games 1 and 2 of the year to a gold-medal win.”
The Rockets improved steadily over the summer, compiling a 10-2-1 record in the regular season and entering the playoffs as the top-ranked team.
West Royalty went 4-0 in the round robin of provincials and earned a berth in the final with a 9-2 victory over Riptide. Stratford defeated Riptide 15-2 to advance to the final while Riptide received bronze medals.
In the championship game, West Royalty jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Scheaffer Vaive hit a two-run home run.
Stratford responded with five runs in the top of the third to pull ahead.
West Royalty threatened in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases with one out, but Stratford turned a line drive into a double play to get out of the jam. The Rockets threatened again in the fourth, loading the bases with one out, but another line drive was caught by the Stealers and turned into a double play.
“I thought after the second double play, maybe today is just not our day,” Halliwell recalled.
Stratford added to its lead with three runs in the fifth inning, making it 8-2 with West Royalty down to its final six outs to mount a comeback in the six-inning contest.
“As the girls came off the field to hit in the bottom of the fifth, we huddled and I asked one question to my team, ‘Is this game over yet?’ The girls answered with an emphatic, ‘NO’,” Halliwell said.
Ava Bernard led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk and Vaive followed with a hit. Solen Trainor crushed one to the fence for a three-run homer and gave West Royalty some life. Megan Bernard then walked and Jadyn Huggan drove her in, cutting the deficit to two (8-6) entering the final inning.
In the top of the sixth, tournament MVP Leah MacLean allowed a leadoff hit before striking out the side.
MacLean drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the sixth. After the next hitter struck out, Stratford intentionally walked Trainor. Bernard delivered a two-run double to tie the game.
MacLean shut down Stratford in the top of the seventh.
Faith Turner led off the bottom of the inning with a hit. Huggan moved her into scoring position with a hit and Morgan Hodge delivered the game-winning hit as the Rockets claimed the provincial title.
“We did all the little things all year, worked on all fundamentals and it paid off today,” said coach Sydney Halliwell.
Hodge was named player of the game.
MacLean was the tournament MVP, allowing five runs in 16 innings while striking out 39. She had a .500 batting average and a.705 on-base percentage. Trainor was the tournament’s top hitter with a .733 average, six home runs and a .790 on-base percentage.
