The Richmond Islanders 2005B softball team came back from Softball City in South Surrey with a gold medal this past weekend.
The girls won all but one of their six games in the South Surrey/White Rock Under 17B Tournament.
The team, led by coaches Michelle Akizuki, Kelly Sagert, and Mike McFarland, got off to a great start on Friday in the round-robin with an 8-3 win against the North Shore Stars.
The form continued with another win, 7-2, early Saturday morning against the Prince George Thunderbirds, before their only loss later that day to the Coquitlam Classics.
Normal service was resumed the same day against the Langley Extreme, with a resounding 8-1 win, with the Islanders’ players of the game for the round-robin including pitcher Lindsay Lim, first base player Ashley Mercer, catcher Paige Sever and second base player Takara Orange.
The Islanders’ performance in the round-robin put them in second place heading into the finals on Sunday, allowing them to miss the early Sunday morning play.
In the play-off round, they faced Coquitlam again and raised their game significantly before the umpire invoked the mercy rule with the Islanders ahead 7-0 in the top of the fifth, sending the girls to the gold medal game, where they faced Ridge Meadows Rage.
A great team performance led to the Islanders wrapping it up 10-3 in the bottom of the sixth, with an RBI by Abby Mischke and a huge celebration by the Islanders’ players and supporters.
The girls are now looking forward to hosting the U17B provincials at London Steveston Park in July.
