The bantam A Calahoo Chiefs can call themselves provincial champions, but they went about it the hard way.
The Chiefs lost the first game of their best-of-three Softball Alberta championship series 14-3 to the Irma Tigers on Saturday morning in Calahoo, them stormed back later in the day to win the next two games, 7-6 and 13-6, capturing provincial gold.
Head coach James Plastow said he didn't lose faith in his team after the opening game loss.
"We knew that we could do it. They were probably just a little frustrated with what they brought this morning," he said. "But they dug deep and took the win."
Logan Petty, who pitched the entirety of the last two games for the Chiefs, said the mood in the dugout was down after the first game.
"We were pretty beat. We weren't very happy," he said. "But we got our bums kicked by our coach and got into gear."
Plastow couldn't say enough about Petty and his performance on the mound.
"It was phenomenal," he said. "Both our pitchers were dinged up a little bit. He's really stepped up this year and exploded, brought his A-game."
A scary moment for Petty and the Chiefs came in the fourth inning of the second game when Petty took a line drive off the elbow. He was able to shake it off and continue, but said he wasn't at his best after that.
"The muscles are tight and it was difficult to throw," he said. "I wasn't 100 per cent at all."
In that second game, Calahoo led 7-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but Irma scored three on an RBI double and a two-run home run to pull within one. But Petty was able to bear down and force a ground ball to first base to end the game.
The third game was sewn up in the bottom of the fifth inning when Calahoo centre-fielder Dylan Wilkstrom launched a grand slam over the left-field fence, giving the Chiefs enough of a lead to invoke the mercy rule.
Plastow said he had just one thought going through his head when Wilkstrom made contact.
"'Please, clear the fence,'" he said with a laugh. "That was a great team we played against. They love to hit and they've got some great fielders. I thought one of them was going to get underneath it."
Wilkstrom admitted that, once the ball left his bat, he caught himself watching it sail over the fence.
"I was kind of amazed. I wasn't expecting that," said Wilkstrom, who went yard three times over the course of the series.
The Chiefs gave up three runs in the top of the fifth inning and found themselves down 6-4, but roared back in the bottom half, roughing up the Tigers' pitching for nine runs — including four on Wilkstrom's bomb — to win the game.
"We had a few lucky breaks go our way and everybody bought into the fact they had to get on their horse," he said. "Everyone wanted to hit and it kind of got contagious there."
All three games were played Saturday — at 8:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. — that took a lot out of the players.
"I'm pretty beat right now," Petty said after the deciding game. "I'm going to go home and sleep."
Up next for the Chiefs are the Western Canadian softball championships, which start July 28 in Saskatoon, Sask. Irma will also play in that tournament as Alberta is allotted two berths in the bantam A boys' division.
Plastow said he hopes to show the rest of the competition what Alberta can do.
"We hope we'll be able to represent Alberta strong," he said.
Two more gold
A total of five other divisions contested their provincial championships in Calahoo over the weekend, with local teams competing in three.
The peewee A Chiefs also brought home a provincial title as they too bested Irma in a best-of-three series. Calahoo won the first game 11-4, then needed an extra inning in the second game to win 7-6.
The squirt A Chiefs also won gold as they swept the Beacon Heights Bandits out of Edmonton in two straight games 12-8 and 20-10.
In mite A, the Chiefs finished third, beating Calgary 17-9 in the B final.
