Take me out to provincials.
After winning the Zone 7 qualifiers, the Bonnyville Angels U12 team are headed to provincials, with three squirt teams ending the season strong.
The Bonnyville Angels squirts finished on a high note this year, with Bonnyville 1 claiming second with fives wins and one loss, and Bonnyville 2 placing third after five wins and one loss. After three wins and two losses, Bonnyville 3 took fifth place overall.
“These are excellent results considering there are 13 teams in the league,” said squirt 1 coach, David Wiklund.
Finishing off the season isn’t all the U12 teams had to celebrate.
Four girls from each of the Angels U12 teams made the Alberta roster.
Taylor Wiklund is one of the players who made the cut, something she takes pride in.
She said she was thrilled when she heard the news.
“I tried my hardest to make the team, and it’s really exciting.”
David and the other coaches spent most of the season developing base running.
“The improvement was crazy this season. In an age group where they come in and they haven’t really played before, to start to play fairly competitive by the end of the year, it was really exciting to watch them,” he expressed.
Since hearing the news their players had made the provincial team, David said they’ve taken everything the girls had learned so far up a level. Practices focused more on batting, base running, and stealing bases.
Defensively, players also concentrated on infielder and outfielder coverage.
One of the pitchers for the Alberta squirts team, Sarah Depner, has been getting coached one-on-one. She has been working on her pitching, and uses each game to improve on her style.
“I have to practice pitching legally, because I kept stepping back off the pitcher’s mound. I tried it in our last game, and the ball was kind of all over the place.”
Wiklund thinks their depth in pitching is going to make them a strong contender at provincials, and that the pitchers are going to be able to trust the team they have behind them.
Players will be hitting the High Park diamond in Edmonton on July 7 with the provincial team.
