The Abbotsford Outlaws U12 rep B softball team are provincial champions.
The club, made up of players from Abbotsford, Mission and Chilliwack began training in October in preparation for the start of the season at the end of March.
The Chilliwack players are Addison Goodale, Dilynne Goodale, Hailey Roscoe and Jordyn Roscoe.
All their training seemed to pay off in the regular season, as the Outlaws dominated league play with a record of 20-2, outscoring the opposition 279-81. The team also entered four tournaments, winning gold in three and taking home silver in the other.
The Outlaws then moved on to the district tournament playdowns, which included two Abbotsford teams and two Langley teams with the winner earning a position to attend the 2019 Softball BC Provincials U12 rep B tournament in Duncan in July.
The Abbotsford Outlaws won all four games, placing first in district playdowns and earning a berth at the provincials.
The Outlaws then battled against 15 other teams from across British Columbia for gold.
The club won four round-robin games on the first two days of the tournament – against Vancouver (6-4), Ladysmith (10-1), Delta (8-1) and Duncan (7-5) – to secure top spot in the round robin.
Abbotsford then won their first knockout game against Richmond 12-2.
Pitcher Eden Fitch was solid, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out seven. The Outlaws followed that up with a 3-2 loss to Langford in the next round, meaning Abbotsford would have to win four in a row to reach the provincial final.
The journey to climb back to the finals began against Kelowna, and strong performances by Keely Willlard and Brennaugh Harman helped secure a 5-2 win.
Next up was a rematch with Delta, and the bats came alive. Avrey Steele, Eden Fitch, Tia Dunn, Kailey Rempel, Jordyn Roscoe, and Addison Goodale all had one hit to lead the Outlaws to a convincing 8-0 win. Both Fitch and Dunn combined on the mound for six strikeouts.
The Outlaws next took on Cloverdale – the only team to have a better regular-season record than them – and the game was a defensive battle which featured a highlight-reel catch from Emily Krulitski in centre field.
Steele and Goodale both went two-for-two at the plate, and the team combined for seven hits to record a 2-1 win and advance the Outlaws to a rematch with Langford in the finals.
The finals saw the Outlaws take an early lead and never look back.
Goodale, Fitch, Willard and Roscoe all drove in runs en route to a 10-4 win and a provincial gold medal.
Overall, the Outlaws compiled an incredible record of 57 wins, four losses, and two ties and were aided by coaches Ryan Steele (head coach), Stu Dunn (hitting), Ryan Krulitski (fielding) and Craig Fitch (pitching).