It was a pitcher’s duel at Optimist Park Diamond as Annie Riendeau and Ally Wagner did everything they could to help their teams win.
A run scored in the first inning gave the Panthers the 1-0 win over the Royals in Moose Jaw and District Minor Girls Fastball playoffs and were crowned the bantam division winners on Thursday evening.
“It was awesome. It’s nice to have that in house league, you just never know what you are going to get in terms of pitching,” said Maclean Nelson, coach of the Panthers. “It was nice to have in the final game of the season. It was great to see.”
The Royals held their own, threatening late in the game, but couldn’t string enough hits together to tie the game.
It was Nelson’s first year coaching and felt good for him to win the championship with this team.
“It’s always great to win the championship, especially in my first year coaching,” he said. “They played well all season, so it was great finish.”
The team finished on top of the league standings throughout the season and improved each game.
“They developed so much. So many of the players came in this year and were scared to hit the ball or had trouble throwing,” Nelson said. “To see how they started and how they finished is just great to see how they improved as ball players and as people too.”
In the squirt final on Wednesday evening, the Rays defeated the Vipers 19-10 to claim the division title.
