Bolstered by team members from Canora, Preeceville and Kamsack, the Assiniboine Golden Aces co-ed slo-pitch team journeyed to Winnipeg for the Western Canadian Slo-pitch Championship on August 9 to 11 and came home with the gold medal.
The roster included David Weiman from Preeceville, Gordon Barnes from Kamsack and Victor Korchinski from Canora.
The Aces won the first two games on August 9, including an extra-inning comeback win in the second game, said Weiman.
On the second day, Assiniboine was again successful, winning both of the day’s games. The four wins in the qualifying round would mean one less game in the championship round with a win in the first game, he said.
But this was not to be. The Aces lost the first game in the championship round and therefore had to come back the hard way from the bottom of the draw and needed to win all three games on the last day. And the team members pulled off this improbable feat to win the championship, reported Weiman.
“The tired crew was all smiles after a hard fought tournament,” he said. “Seven games over three days is a challenge as one gets older but the victory is just as sweet.”
The Assiniboine Aces team was founded in Preeceville and has since added players from many different towns throughout the Parkland Area to maintain its competitive status.
The team was scheduled to compete in the SPN (Slo-Pitch National) provincial tournament on the August 24 to 25 weekend to wrap up another successful season. One of the reasons the group is able to compete at a high level of play is that most of the players play in various hometown slo-pitch leagues. Another contributing factor was that the team had the opportunity to play in senior slo-pitch tournaments in Kamsack, Preeceville, Melville and Swan River throughout the season, concluded Weiman.
