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Already guaranteed a berth at the B.C. U18B fastball championship tournament, the Kelowna Heat are serving notice they’ll be more than simply hosts at provincials in mid-July.
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The Heat, coming off a tournament win in Richmond a week earlier, won five of six games on the weekend at Kiwanis High Noon Park — site of the B.C. championship — to capture the 2017 Kelowna Spring Sizzle title and showed they will be among the serious contenders for a provincial crown.
An 11-6 victory over the Similkameen Koyotes in the tournament final capped a spunky performance by a Heat team that fought through several injuries to claim top spot in the 16-team Kelowna Minor Fastball Society-sponsored event.
A two-run double by the Dani Knopf that scored Taylor Callow and Racquel Bennett in the top of the seventh inning put the game away for the Heat, who had jumped out to a 7-2 lead after three innings, but then let Similkameen narrow the lead to 7-6 in the fifth.
Knopf finished with three hits on five trips to the plate and drove in three runs overall. Emma Profili went 3-for-4 and brought in two runs while Bennett had two runs-batted-in with two hits and scored twice. Emily Elsom contributed to the Kelowna offence with two stolen bases.
Ann Marie Crandlemire went six innings, giving up five runs on five hits to earn the pitching win. Wright closed out the final frame.
The two pitchers also combined to lead the Heat to a 6-5 victory in semifinal play against the Richmond Islanders 00. Crandlemire started the game and went four innings, giving up the five runs, while Wright shut the door by getting the final six outs and striking out two along the way.
Scoring two runs in the fourth inning, the Heat took over the lead for good against a Richmond team they had defeated 11-4 in the Islanders' own tournament a week earlier.
Once again it was Knopf coming through in the clutch, scoring Callow with a hit to tie the game. Crandlemire crossed with the winning run on a Richmond error. Ali Giesbrecht made a tough play on a hard-hit ball to third base with the tying run on third to record the last out.
The Heat opened the tournament by winning two of three games in round-robin play. They started with a 10-0 win over the Sherwood Park Belles, while defeating the Vancouver Wildcats 11-2 and losing their only game of the three-day event 4-3 to the South Delta Invaders 00.
Wilson led the Heat at the dish against Sherwood Park, hitting a two-run homer and driving in five runs overall. Danya Truscott-Plitt and Brea McCormack shared the pitching duties, allowing the Belles just one hit while posting seven strikeouts.
In the win over Vancouver, Giesbrecht was 3-for-3 and scored two runs to claim the offensive spotlight for the hosts.
The first playoff game saw the Heat breeze to a 12-0 victory against the Langley Xtreme 00. Crandlemire went the distance and allowed just two hits while Haley Martin, Bennett and Profili all had multi-hit games. McCormack added a two-run double.
Head coach, Darren Bennett, said he was proud of the way his team fought through adversity to claim the tournament title.
“With Danya (Truscott-Plitt), Marlayna (Martin) and Katie (Huston) all aggravating injuries over the weekend, the girls did a great job remaining focused and playing in unfamiliar positions,” said Bennett.
The Heat will resume tournament play May 27-28 at the Sicamous Senior Ladies Invitational, while they’ll play in a tournament in Spokane June 10-11 and at the Canada Cup in Vancouver July 7-9 before they play host to the U18B provincial championship tournament at High Noon July 14-16.
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