Hard work, dedication and sportsmanship continues to pay off in a huge way for the Richmond 2003B Islanders.
The rep girls softball team is provincial champion for the second time in three years, this time capturing the U14B event — held July 14-16 at Sullivan Park in Surrey.
Led by head coach Angie Hill and assistants Kyla McWiliam, Michelle Akizuki and Erin Turko, the Islanders were also winners of the U12B championships back in 2015 as the girls continue their impressive fastpitch journey over the past four seasons.
The team includes: Gabriella Papillon, Kyla Sagert, Olivia Zahar, Taryn Hill, Kaitlyn Eng, Kayla Baxter, Kim Cho, Sarah Dawson, Emily Smith, Chloe Maher, Shae Sever and Tamryn Ward.
Before even thinking about being on top of the podium, the Islanders first had to make it out of what was considered to be the most difficult pool group in the championship.
In round robin play, they secured wins over the Ridge Meadows ’03 Rage (13-1) and the Coquitlam Classics (8-0). It was then a pair of match-ups against opponents who were also considered title contenders.
After falling 5-2 to the Surrey ’03 Storm, the Islanders came back strong in a must-win game the Langley ’03 Xtreme — getting ahead early in a 6-4 win. Their 3-1 record was good enough for fifth in the standings heading into the playoffs.
Richmond would then face a strong Strawberry Vale Kryptonite team from Vancouver Island. The girls erased an early 1-0 deficit and eventually opened up a lead thanks to four runs, off six hits, in the third. The Kryptonite responded with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth before the Islanders pulled away for good in an 11-5 triumph.
Up next was their friendly rival — ’03 Storm — for the second time in the tournament. Surrey was nursing a 2-0 lead in the third when the Richmond bats came alive in a big way. A lead off single by Papillon ignited a six-run inning and her team was on its way to a big 9-3 victory.
The semi-finals saw the girls face the Prince George Thunderbirds. After two scoreless innings, the T-Birds scored twice in the third. The Islanders stormed back in the fourth with four hits and a pair of walks to produce four runs and never look back.
The girls added four more insurance runs in the bottom of the six to seal an 8-3 victory and a berth in the gold medal game against the Kelowna Heat.
Richmond took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the second of when the Okanagan champions threatened to break the game open. With one out and runners on second and third, Leung gave up an easy fly ball to Maher, in centre field who preceded to throw a strike to Smith at catcher to nail the runner attempting to score — completing an outstanding double play.
The Islanders kept chipping away at the Heat, scoring one run in each of the last four innings to take a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh. The margin was trimmed to 6-4 when a fly ball to left field afforded the Islanders their first out. Sever then struck out the Heat’s lead-off batter and extinguished the rally with a simple pop up back to her to secure a 6-4 win and the provincial title.
