P.E.I. teams claim medals
Two P.E.I. women’s softball teams won gold and bronze medals at the Pan Pacific Master Games in Australia.
Cheers captured gold on Nov. 12, and the Subway Sluggers picked up bronze on Nov. 11. Both teams were competing in the 45-plus age category.
“Our team accomplished a lifetime achievement,” said Cheers coach Dawn Moase, who added Cheers took the approach of one play at a time. “This tournament was an unbelievable experience for everyone.”
Cheers capped its run with a 5-3 victory in the goldmedal game over the Vicsens Juniors from Melbourne, Australia.
Cheers led the entire game, jumping out in front in the top of the first inning on a two-out, two-run home run by Tracy Redmond.
Cheers took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning on singles by Tammy Gallant, Nancy Drover and Lisa Hetherington, who drove home designated runner Janet Cameron.
In the top of the third inning, Andrea Wolf’s groundball drove in Redmond and Sears hit a single to plate Heather Macinnis to give Cheers a 5-0 advantage. Redmond and Sears had reached base on walks.
Cheers played strong defensively, and that was evident in the bottom of the sixth inning. Vicsens scored three runs to get back in the game and was threatening for more with one out when Tammy Gallant snagged a line drive down the third-base line for a big second out.
The next batter hit a grounder to the right side of the infield that was fielded by Drover, who threw the ball to first base for the third out.
Cheers earned a bye to the final with a first-place finish (6-2) in a double round-robin schedule that determined the seedings for the playoff matchups.
In the semifinal game, the Vicsens scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull out a 5-4 win over the Sluggers.