Lyle Carter
After winning regionals, the South Colchester Academy Wolves played for the Nova Scotia senior girls slo-pitch championship.
Hosted by hants East the tournament was played at the Leo Blair Memorial Field in North
River. Reaching the semi nals, the wolves met Hants East Tigers.
“It was a long, bumpy road in trying to win this tournament,” second baseman Hayley Elliott, 17, of Brook eld, said. “ ere we were in the semi nal game playing in extra innings against Hants East. Our team never gave up, we were very loud – we showed real team spirit and we pulled it out.”
e Wolves played in the championship game; the outcome was decided in the nal inning.
“We were down by three going into the top of the seventh,” winning pitcher Erin Carter, 15, of Stewiacke, said. “ e score was 9-6 for Amherst, we had a lot of batters draw walks and then players came through with a triple and a homerun. We scored 13 runs in the last inning and were up by 10.”
Asked about the bottom of the seventh, Carter, a Grade 9 student, commented: “It went very smooth. e rst out de ected o me – Hayley raced over near the pitcher’s mound, elded the ball and threw to first for the out. I don’t remember the second out, but the nal out was a line drive right back at me which I caught.”
For the Wolves Elliott, a Grade 11 student, this is her fourth Nova Scotia championship in ve years. She was thrilled with the last inning 19-9 comeback win. She also revisited some team history.
“It was really exciting to make Hayley Elliott, left, was named SCA 3D senior award recipient, while Erin Carter was the school’s Junior Female Athlete of the Year. that comeback and we kind of won it with a brand new team. We had a stacked team for our first three championships but last year we lost several players and the title just wasn’t there. is year was like redemption, we just had to win. ere were times it didn’t look like we could do it, I’m so proud of every one of our players.”
Carter, a junior high student, said the win meant a lot.
“It was really exciting for me. Last year I didn’t play much, this year I played a lot and pitched many of the important games. e win was very important to me, I wasn’t sure we could pull it o but our team really stuck together, I’m so proud of my teammates.”
What about next year? “The future is really looking bright,” Elliott said. “The good thing is we don’t have any graduating players. Our players are already excited about coming back for 2019.”
The championship team is coached by Tracy Lowe and Melissa Raymond, assistant coaches are Kary Elliott and Andrew Fisher.
“I think they played for each other,” Lowe said. “ ey worked harder because of their closeness. Our team has some big hitters but they were willing to take walks to help the team. We had incredible speed on the base paths, everyone hustled all game – you couldn’t ask for more.”
The Wolves Sarah Kennedy, Charlea Lowe and Elliott were feared long-ball hitters. Shortstop Jade Macdougall played brilliantly in the infield and rover Jesse Keddy made outstanding gamesaving catches in the out eld.
On June 7, during the school’s annual sports awards night, Elliott received the SCA 3D Senior Award, presented to the student displaying outstanding determination, dedication and drive. A multi-sport athlete, Elliott also played soccer, volleyball and basketball.
“It was special winning this award two years in a row,” Elliott told me. “Any athlete would have to enjoy something like this. I thank my slo-pitch teammates, we are a very close group, this is why we were able to succeed.”
Carter, involved in slo-pitch, soccer, basketball, volleyball, track and curling, was named SCA Junior Female Athlete of the Year.
“I felt so privileged and honoured to be the recipient of this award,” Carter said. “It’s nice to be recognized for hard work and dedication. I plan to play many sports in the future and I’m looking forward to our team’s next three years in slo-pitch.”
Carter was also nominated for the Ron O’flaherty Scholarship Sports Award and
presented with several other awards including the Junior 3D Award, a most versatile
player award and a most improved player award.