Local ball teams earn major honours
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This article was published 22/09/2021 (618 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
This summer saw two great performances by local baseball and softball teams, and I want to congratulate them on their successes.
First up, the Southdale Lakers U15 A team had five straight wins during the city championships in August, winning the three-game round-robin, the semi-final and finally the championship game.
“The kids were very excited. They were very happy to achieve that accomplishment,” said Lakers head coach Dennis Gagliardi.
Baseball kicked off in May but saw a pause before resuming in July. About 15 members of the team proceeded with the rest of the season. Gagliardi said it was a great experience to see the kids gain back some normalcy.
“As the provincial restrictions loosened and summer went on, every game they would kind of get back to feeling normal and associate like they used to,” Gagliardi said.
He added that, with the changes to the schedule and different restrictions in place throughout the season, coaches, players and parents weren’t sure how the seasons would proceed.
“At the end it was a nice feeling for them, and they were able to enjoy it like they did two years ago, celebrating their championship win.”
The win marked the second city championship in a row for more than half the team.
Dennis said the kids really put in effort and his coaching team, parents and volunteers made all the difference in shaping a successful season. Alongside Gagliardi, the coaching team consisted of Robin Wallace, David Bonnee, Ed Gorber and Ken Aird.
Congratulations, Southdale Lakers on your victory!
Another big performance was the second-place finish at provincials for the Bonivital East U19 girls softball team. Provincials took place in Brandon during August and after a strong start ,with three wins and one loss, the team won its semi-final game before bowing out in the final.
Head coach Sheldon Oshanyk admitted the loss was tough because they had beaten the opposing team in the round-robin. Still, the team was excited to improve upon its third-place finish last season
“We changed the colour from last year,” he said. “A lot of the girls are returning next year, and they want to change the colour again.”
The U19 girls also had a stop-start season with COVID-19 restrictions moving the season into the summer but went undefeated in their city league during the six-week run.
“We have a pretty strong, competitive team,” Oshanyk said. “Our team always seems to have fun and work hard.”
Oshanyk credits the team members, as well as coaching staff Kevin Graham, Nicole Powell and Janelle Bohunicky, for making the season a success.
Audrey Gordon
Southdale constituency report
Audrey Gordon is the PC MLA for Southdale.