Fresh off their dominant win in last weekend’s provincial women’s fastpitch championship, Galway opens play today at the 10th annual Lloyd Poirier Memorial, an invitational tournament in Lantz, N.S., about midway between Halifax and Truro.
At the same event last year, the young Newfoundland club turned a few heads with a playoff berth and eventual third-place finish in a field that featured a mix of under-19, senior women’s, and masters-age teams from Atlantic Canada, most of them training for Eastern Canadians or international events.
With the same teams returning this year, along with a few other, the tourney is a perfect proving ground for a provincial squad looking to make a strong showing when it hosts Softball Canada’s 2019 women’s fastpitch championships in St. John’s in August.
“(The Poirier Memorial) is the only ladies’ tournament in Atlantic Canada and the only chance for us to get in competitive games prior to Canadians,” explains Andrea Wolf, Galway’s experienced import coach from Saskatchewan.
“Not only do we see faster pitching and better hitting, but the team is able to use this event to bond off the field, which is a large part of being able to perform on the field together.”
Unlike 2018, when the team was short a few players due to scheduling conflicts, the full local roster is in Nova Scotia this weekend, along with one of the team’s two imports — Mikaila Etheridge, who played NAIA ball in the United States and pro softball in Europe and New Zealand.
A second import, Alia Stachoski — a pitcher from B.C.’s Simon Fraser University, which competes in the NCAA Division II circuit — will join the club for nationals.
“It’s a key opportunity for the ladies to get to know and play alongside their new teammate,” insists Wolf.
“Everything we do is to prepare the team as best we can so that we can be in ideal performance state for Canadians. Knowing the calibre of competition already from last year’s tournament, I expect us to be in the championship game on Sunday.”
Members of Galway team include players Jenna Connolly, Jill Connolly, Calista Corbett, Victoria Curran, Victoria Davis, Abigail Gambin, Sami Kennedy, Callie Langmead, Brittany McCarthy, Mariah Morrissey, Dayle Prows, Etheridge and Michelle Rideout, Wolf and assistant coaches Dwayne Connolly, Gary Corbett and Blair Langmead.
Twitter: @telysports
RELATED
Galway was off to the races at Newfoundland women's fastpitch championship
