"I am very proud of the girls," said Don Robertson, one of the Northwest Vipers coaches days after his team returned from provincials in Saskatoon.
Why wouldn't he be? His team never played a full game and dominated the competition all weekend earning a berth in Western Canadian and provincial championships.
After winning the Battlefords and District Ladies' Softball League days earlier, the Vipers were ready and focused on a provincial title.
The Vipers' first game Friday was against the Saskatoon Elite. The game lasted five innings, as the Vipers took a 7-0 mercy win. Brittany Fedler pitched for the Vipers and gave up one hit and had seven strikeouts and a walk in the win. The Vipers' top batters in their first game were Leanne Harris, who was 2/2 and Sarah Heinemann, who was 2/3.
The Vipers' next game was Saturday morning and they came out ready to play once again. They took on the Regina Western Cycle Cyclones and it was another five inning game, as the Vipers won 12-3.This time, Janaya Barker was the winning pitcher after pitching 2.1 innings and Fedler came in relief for the Vipers. Ashley Harms had a home run along with Harris who was 3/3 and Heinemann was also 3/3 at the plate.
Later Saturday, the Vipers played the Saskatoon Erical Junior Eclipse - a team they had beat in tournament play earlier in the season. The Vipers pulled out another 7-0 win with Fedler pitching a no hitter. She picked up 11 strikeouts of a possible 18 outs in the win.
Harris again led the offence going 2/2 while Cherelle Cadrin had a strong game at the plate while going 2/3.
A win in the Vipers' final round robin game would give them first place after the round robin and a spot in the first versus second place playoff game.
The Saskatoon Sluggers proved to be no threat for the Northwest Vipers as they won another game in five innings, this time by a 17-5 score. Barker was the winning pitcher with four strikeouts and she contributed at the plate with a 2/4 performance. The Vipers also rested a handful of starters and the other members of the team filled the void well with Brittany George going 3/4 at the plate along with Rikki Fedler picking up three hits.
The Vipers played their fourth game of the day at 8:30 p.m. Saturday and Brittany Fedler was back in as the starting pitcher. She picked up her second no-hitter of the day with 12 strikeouts, as the Vipers won 8-1 in five innings. Harris was strong again at the plate going 2/2 along with Brynn Hartley, Erin Pylypow and Rikki Fedler, who had a homer as well.
The win sent the Vipers to the final, where they would need to be beat twice by the Eclipse to not win gold, but had already clinched a spot in Westerns since the top two teams advanced.
In Vipers' fashion, it was another five-inning game in the final and Barker picked up the 13-5 win. She pitched three innings with Fedler coming in later in the game to finish off the Eclipse.
Tessa Weum and Harris both had a home run and another hit and Jamie Flasch and Rikki Fedler also had multi-hit games in the win.
Robertson said the Vipers played well all weekend in all aspects of the game.
"We played really well," he said. "We had good pitching, good defence and good batting with only a handful of girls striking out all weekend."
Robertson said heading into a provincial tournament the Vipers didn't know what kind a of competition to expect, but "they came to play all weekend."
The Vipers are in the midst of a week off, but will be back on the practice field next week with the Western Canadian Championships set for Aug. 5 to 8 in Winnipeg.
