Ice have a share of first place at Westerns

Friday night when the Moose Jaw Ice made the final out for a one-run win and a share of first place there were no big celebrations.
In fact their businesslike demeanor had some fans wondering if they had the score wrong. No, the Ice were indeed victorious, but remain focused on bigger things yet to come.
The Ice finished with two wins and a loss after the opening day at the Pee Wee A girls Western Canadian softball championships in Moose Jaw. That 2-1 record puts them in a three-way tie for first place, but the Ice are still looking to be better.
"I'm not on my game in this tournament, but hopefully I'll warm up," said Ice pitcher Sidney Holoien who pitched two complete game wins. "I think I could have done better. I haven't had a game in about a month, none of us have really, so we're just warming up."
Holoien threw a no-hitter as the Ice beat the Saskatoon Raiders 3-1 Friday morning. They lost 7-3 to the Red Deer Firefly Fusion and then held on to beat the provincial champion Saskatoon Phantoms 8-7.
The Ice took confidence from beating two teams who had beaten them a month ago at provincials.
"It's great for our confidence," said Ice head coach Kenric Phillips. "We (gave up) some deep hits tonight, but we were able to hit our cutoffs and throw them out when they tried to stretch it into a triple. That showed that the work and effort that we put in here in the hot days of the summer . . . it showed that it paid off well."
Six teams will advance to the playoffs, though the top four teams have a leg up. With each of the nine teams already having a win, the final two days of round robin play will be very hotly contested.
"Every game in the round robin is almost a must-win," said Phillips who added how important it is to consistently bring their best game.
Ice 8 Phantoms 7
Holoien hit a two-run single in the first inning as the Ice grabbed a 4-1 lead. They pushed that to 8-3 in the sixth when Holoien, Janelle Acott and Cassie Busch each singled.
Despite the big advantage, the Phantoms battled back with a four-run rally before leaving the tying run on third base.
"We're all pretty exhausted and after this last game we're a little down because we had a big lead and we let the get back in the game," said Holoien who allowed five hits in the win. She was 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBI, two runs and two stolen bases.
Acott and Allie Wagner were both 2-for-4 with two runs for the Ice.
Brielle McCullough was 2-for-4 with two triples, two runs and two RBI for the Phantoms.
Fusion 7 Ice 3
The Ice scored twice in the third inning as Taylor Logan and Taylor Phillips each scored to tie the game at 3-3.
That would be short-lived as Red Deer replied with four runs in the bottom of the third - two of them unearned - to go ahead for good.
Nicole Nestor-Hall struck out eight batters and allowed five hits in six innings pitched for the Ice. Red Deer starter Madison Holland also allowed five hits and struck out 14 batters in a complete game win.
Logan was 2-for-4 with a double to lead the Ice.
Ice 3 Raiders 1
Despite pitching a no-hitter Holoien said she didn't feel on top of her game. The 10 walks she gave up speaks to that, but at the same time, Holoien struck out 15 Raiders batters.
The game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth with neither team having had a hit when Kaylee Buekert walked and Acott drove her home with a double to break-up Haley Volk's no-hit bid. Acott scored on an error to go up 3-1.
Extra bases . . . Dione Meier, a Canadian Olympic fastball player from Saskatoon, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the opening ceremonies . . . Tickets for the tournament are $10 for a day pass or $30 for a tournament pass.