CHARLES TWEED/Ponoka News
It may be Ponoka’s version of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Ponoka Panthers peewee girls’ ball team is a scrappy crew that is winning more than their fair share of ball games and has set their sights on a provincial title.
On June 2 the Panthers took on Wetaskiwin at the Complex One diamond behind the arena.
Carmen Lomas is the team’s version of Rajai Davis, and led the game off with a walk and later came around to score, finishing 2-2 with three runs scored.
The patient trend at the plate continued as Ponoka walked 12 times en route to a 21-8 win. Kendra Ames was the clean up hitter and finished 2-2 with a walk and three runs scored, while Courtney Bolze walked in all three of her plate appearances, scoring two runs.
“This group works really hard and are a lot of fun to coach,” said Sharon Klinger. “We really wanted to work on bunting, batting, field coverage and pick off plays against Wetaskiwin.”
The girls’ success has followed them to tournaments as well, recently winning a silver medal in Lacombe after losing to Red Deer 5-3 in the final.
“We have three new girls on our team who have never played ball before and they’re definitely improving every time they are on the field,” said Klinger.
The team has several plus arms that give them a chance to win every night but it might be their athleticism that has paid off with results so far this season.
“We excel at moving around the bases. Base running is a strength of the team,” said Klinger.
The girls’ next tournament action comes June 17 when they will travel to Innisfail and Klinger believes she has a team that should continue to develop and possibly challenge for a provincial title.