CHARLES TWEED/Ponoka News
The Ponoka Patriots girls’ bantam team took on Trochu June 7.
The Patriots got off to a hot start and finished the night ahead 17-13. The team has struggled with numbers throughout the season often fielding ‘the hungry nine’ but has developed into a competitive squad.
“We only have 10 on the team so we’ve just been getting enough numbers but we are building for provincials,” said coach Brian Czapp. “We are going to playdowns at the end of June and I believe there are five teams vying for two spots at provincials.”
Czapp feels confident his team stands a good shot to make it through the qualifier as long as his team plays tough on that particular weekend. Provincials are in Sherwood Park on July 8 to 10.
“We’re concentrating on lots of practicing, time in the batting cage and a lot of things we need to shore up a bit,” he said. “Repetition is the key, it fixes a lot in any sport.”
Czapp also credited growing up in a smaller community has allowed the girls to play together in a variety of sports growing up and the fact there are only 10 of them means they have to rely and trust each other on the field.
“A couple of girls are fairly new but have caught on pretty quickly but most of the girls have played together for quite a long time and they all help each other out. Everybody knows each other and they’ve all played volleyball, basketball, baseball and track and field so we kind of have to fight the other sports sometimes but at least you know they will be in great shape,” said Czapp.
The team felt it was important to set expectations coming into the season so they had something to build and work toward.
“Our goal is to get through playdowns and get to provincials and get to the last day to get a medal. That’s our goal,” said Czapp.