One Ponoka fast-pitch softball team made it to provincials and came back with a silver medal.
The U10 Ponoka Crushers played in Josephburg July 5 to 7 and coach Orion Donison was proud of their efforts. “(I was) surprised, yes. Definitely, because we’ve never done this before.”
The competition was fierce with four of their six games going into extra innings. They beat Wetaskiwin in the round robin, eventual gold medal winners.
“It was very tense,” says Donison.
He praised the girls and assistant coaches Cheryl Law and Ron Klinger for creating a strong, unified team. There were two girls from Lacombe who joined the team and everyone made them feel welcome, he said.
“Our girls took them in like they’ve known them for years,” he added.
One of Donison’s training tricks was to give the players a chance to try out every position rather than keep them in one spot. He feels this helped bring strengthen their skills for the provincial games.