(Photo courtesy/Melfort Minor Softball Association, Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

Inclement Weather

Melfort softball tournament still successful despite early finish

Jun 17, 2024 | 4:00 PM

Melfort Minor Softball hosted a three-day girls’ tournament this past weekend, bringing in teams from Manitoba, Alberta, and all across Saskatchewan.

While the weather cooperated for most of the weekend, unfortunately, the event had to be cut a bit short on Sunday, due to inclement weather.

“Mother Nature won on Sunday,” explained Melfort Minor Softball Association President, Jessie Spencer. “After the big rainfall Saturday night, our grounds crew were working hard at like 6:30 a.m. so we could get our big games in. We did manage to get two semi-final games in before the rain started again at noon and then the diamonds just couldn’t handle it anymore.”

The ball diamonds were simply too wet and waterlogged to play on, come Sunday afternoon (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW Staff)

With the weather not getting any better, MMSA had to call it, leaving some teams with unfinished business.

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The U13 Humboldt team had booked their ticket to the finals, after a 9-7 win over the Melfort Spirit, as they awaited the winner of the Saskatoon Hustlers and Prince Albert Aces.

Meanwhile, the Regina Saints and Westman (Brandon) Magic were supposed to compete for a spot in the U15 finals, as well as the Saskatoon Hustlers and Twin City (Warman/Martensville) Angels.

Finally, the Lakeland (Melfort/Prince Albert) Blaze had beaten the Regina Saints 8-1 to get to the U17 finals, which would have been against either the Saskatoon Select Hurricanes or Saskatoon Select Panthers.

“We couldn’t have asked for better weather on Friday or Saturday, we had a great turnout from the public with lots of people coming through the gates, which is always great to see,” added Spencer. “Couldn’t have asked for anything better, up until the rain hit us on Sunday around noon, so it was too bad that it had to end that way.”

Despite the slightly shorter version of the tournament, the MMSA was able to raise some significant funds for their ball players.

The annual event is one of their biggest fundraisers of the year, usually bringing in roughly $10,000.

While a final count hasn’t yet been made, Spencer told northeastNOW that they’re expecting a similar amount.

She concluded her thoughts by mentioning how much fun every team seemed to have, thanking all the volunteers, and congratulating the winners of the skills competition on Saturday, which included the U13 Melfort Spirit, the U15 Saskatoon Phantoms, and the U17 Saskatoon Select Hurricanes.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8