Thompson 9 - 8 Churchill
The Thompson Trojans repeated a mantra at the beginning of the softball season that went something like this: if you can't throw, can't catch, can't hit, and don't know the rules, you'll fit in perfectly.
This all-beginners-welcome attitude means Thompson’s coaches were happy the Trojans scored three runs against the Churchill Bulldogs (7-1 at the time) in a 11-3 loss last week.
So on May 21 when the Trojans knocked off the Bulldogs 9-8 and earned a seat at the city championship, the win called for a new definition of success.
“I was shocked when we scored five runs in the second inning,” said coach Dean Sheardown. “I figured if we kept it close, we would just keep the game from being the usual blowout — a la 16-4. But our infield made the simple plays on defence.”
Cass Lee fielded grounders at second base, shortstop Vanessa Lu made plays look easy and Letitia Kwong was solid at third. Finally, at first base, Bonny Mao covered errant throws and closed down on close plays. The Trojans made few errors, which was a key reason they won. Another reason: they scored runs.
Trojan batters were walked and runners scored on infield errors and wild pitches. On defence, they didn’t err.
“We caught a few infield pop ups, didn't give them an extra outs — we are famous for giving good teams three or four extra outs by our mistakes — and slowly we kept being in the lead,” said Sheardown.
The Trojans, a team with only one Grade 9 player on a softball club team, led by two runs in the fourth and final inning. In the bottom of the inning with one out, Churchill hit a home run deep to left field. But Churchill had no base runners, and the next two batters hit grounders and were thrown out at first.
“I still can't believe we won,” said Sheardown, who coaches with Chris Ascher, “but our confidence grew stronger and the girls started to believe they could win, something they didn't think was possible at the beginning.”
If the game had gone the full five innings (it was stopped after four because of a time limit), Sheardown wondered if the Bulldogs would have found their bats.
“You don't play the game on paper, you still have to play the game on the field,” he said.
The Trojans meet Prince of Wales in the city final on May 22. The Walesmen defeated Van Tech 14-5 to advance.
