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After a rocky start, the U13 AA Grey Sultans played their best ball of the season and came out with two very impressive victories, including in the B-Side final sending the team home with medals.
"We entered the Wayne Tucker Memorial tournament out in Buhler Park," Assistant Coach Jason Sharpe explains. "We went in without a lot of expectations, we knew it would be our first game play as a team. We played two games on Saturday and lost both, but they were really close. Game one was 6-4 and game two was 12-11. That actually seeded us 8th out of the 11 teams."
Despite the tough start, Sharpe says the team didn't hang their heads. "They bounced right back on Sunday, we played in the semifinal and we won a close game there which put us in the finals against a tough Corydon team. We managed to pull out a really solid win, 15-7 and take home the B-Side final."
Reflecting over the four games, Sharpe says there are a lot of positives to take away on top of winning the B-Side. "We got a pretty decent team," he says with a laugh. "Considering these were the first four games for a lot of these kids playing together, the way they battled and came out with a win, it's pretty impressive. It's a strong showing for a group that proved they can do great things."
Along with the win, Sharpe says watching the group bond together on and off the field is a huge thing for the coaches. "Them being friends and really battling for one another, that's a huge part. It's great to see all the friends being made, all the friends my son is making, it's just great to see them all hang out and loving the game of baseball."
U13 is an interesting age where skills really start to develop and Sharpe says seeing them putting the practice habits into action on the field was special. "As coaches, myself, Colin Tetrault and Dave Blatz, we were all pretty impressed with how the kids played over the weekend, that's for sure."
The group will look to keep building as they prepare for more tournaments. "We have one coming up in June in Portage, the 14th and 15th, " Sharpe says with a smile. "We have a qualifier that we play in July 5th and 6th. Most likely we'll squeeze in some exhibition games here and there, then we're ready for provincials at the end of July."