Delta '96 Heat rep "A" fastpitch team capped a remarkable season in grand style, capturing the gold medal at the U16 Canadian Championships in Brantford, ON.
The girls began the 2012 campaign with high expectations, having pulled off the rare feat of winning the B.C. title the previous summer as a first-year team at the Bantam age level. They lived up to the lofty expectations by piling victories then repeating as provincial champions. Making the run even more impressive was losing two key players - MacKenzie Welsh and Kaitlin Fraser - to season-ending injuries at a tournament in Oregon back in June.
All that was left was for the Heat to prove they were the best team in the nation and they did just that despite facing more adversity.
Delta began round-robin against the same Manitoba team that had bounced them from the nationals a year earlier. This time it was no contest as the Heat exploded for 14 runs over a three inning stretch to cruise to a 15-1 victory.
Victories over PEI (12-0) and Alberta #1 (5-0) set the stage for an all B.C. battle with the '96 White Rock Renegades. Holly Speers led off with a solo home run to put the Heat in flight. A single from Kennedy Bailey and a walk to Marley Parker put two on board for Lexie Brenneis who blasted a three-run homer. Additional hits by Cassidy King, Haili Pettifer and Taylor Gillis resulted in a 6-0 lead after one and the Heat rolled to a 12-0 win.
The girls then concluded round-robin play with victories against Mississauga (5-0) and Saskatchewan (6-0) to earn the top seed for the playoff round with an amazing 55-1 run differential. The highlight of the Saskatchewan game was winning pitcher Carolyn Thoveson allowing just one hit.
What appeared to be a seemingly easy path to gold took a sudden turn when the Heat were dumped 7-3 by the Victoria Devils in a rematch of the provincial final. The result meant Delta would need to roll off four straight wins to realize their title hopes in the double knockout format.
The Heat began the climb back into contention with an 8-1 victory over the Burnaby Oakeys. Gillis and Bailey each had three hits, while Brenneis and Bailey drove in two runs each.
Winning pitcher Francais Olexa allowed just two hits.
Delta then bounced the Brampton Blazers 5-1, keyed by a grand slam home run from Speers that cashed in Montana Turnovitsky, King and Pettifer.
The team then leaned on a big time pitching performance by Parker in a 1-0 win over Mississauga. Not only did she strikeout 10 in a complete game performance, she also homered for the game's only run.
The rested Devils awaited in the championship game but it was the Heat who came out full of energy.
The locals pounded Victoria pitching to the tune of eight runs in two innings as they cruised to a 14-0 mercy rule victory as Parker picked up her third win of the day.
The team also includes: Siara Couper, Paige Harbord and Jennifer Linde. King and Gillis were pick-up players from the '97 White Rock Renegades and '96 Abbotsford Outlaws repsectively. The Heat are coached by Bill Olexa, Bob Houtman and Kim Wright.
