The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page - July 01, 2008
HOST TEAM QUALIFIES FOR PROVINCIALS IN QUESNEL
Princeton's Cook's Raiders hosted a ten team play down June 21 and 22 for two spots to the Bantam Girls Provincials.
Saturday morning action saw Princeton up against the Vernon Titans. Back and forth action finally led to Princeton edging out Vernon 8 to 6. Catch of the game went to Ashlee Cathro for catching a long fly ball and saving two runs from coming in.
The 2:00 PM game saw Princeton up against the tough Naramata team. The girl's bats fell silent as they went down to defeat 8 to 0. Alyssa Larsen played a strong defensive game, however. The team rallied back against the Kelowna team Saturday night and soundly beat them 8 to 0.
The infield combination of Mackenzie Johnston, Katie Liberatore and Kelcy Banks made Princeton's defense unstoppable.
Sunday morning's game belonged to Crystal Manion, with her strike out pitching. Kiel Liberatore helped the cause with a stand-up triple. The Raiders defeated Summerland 11 to 4 for a berth into the semi-finals.
Again, Crystal rallied to help her team by pitching them to an 8 to 6 victory over Westside in the semi-finals. Milen Wilkinson played strong defensively at third as well as some run saving catches in the field by Tahlia McIvor and Meagan Haayer.
The finals saw Princeton up against the Naramata team again. After the first inning of play Princeton was down 5 to 1, with Dez Bruneau scoring the lone run. Determination by the gutsy Princeton team saw the home team fight back to being down by 3 in the 7th inning. Despite the bases being loaded, Princeton was not able to connect and Naramata claimed the victory.
Coaches Denise Cook, Rob Banks and Len Liberatore are proud of the girls for their sportsmanship and excellent ball skills they demonstrated all weekend. It is no small feat to achieve Provincials two years running. The team will be off to Provincials in Quesnel July 4, 5 & 6.
Many thanks go out to all the volunteers - concession and grounds crew - who made this weekend happen!
