PEI

P.E.I. underdog team wins gold at national softball championship

A P.E.I. softball team came back from a three-game loss to win a gold medal in their division at the Under 14 Canadian National Softball Championships in Winnipeg on the weekend.

'To be honest our goal this year was to win 3 games'

The P.E.I. Selects after winning the gold medal. (submitted)

A P.E.I. softball team came back from a three-game loss to win a gold medal in their division at the Under 14 Canadian National Softball Championships in Winnipeg on the weekend.

P.E.I. Selects head coach Rod Creaser said they would have considered three wins a success going into the tournament.

You want to believe that you can win gold and promote that you can win gold but as realistic goals, never thought it would actually be possible, no.- Rod Creaser

And it wasn't going well at first. The team lost its first three games and had a player injured.

But Creaser said that injury in the third game seemed to pull the team together — almost like they were determined to win for her.

They started a winning streak and eventually found themselves in the gold medal game for their division.

"A lot of us were kind of shocked that we had got that far," said Creaser. "You want to believe that you can win gold and promote that you can win gold but as realistic goals, never thought it would actually be possible, no."

The team won the gold medal game against Manitoba 6-3.

The P.E.I. team is made up of 12 girls from across the province who are chosen from a pool of about 23.

Creaser noted teams such as British Columbia have upwards of 200 girls to choose from.

The P.E.I. Selects have been together since last October.

The team is in shock and just starting to realize what they have accomplished, said Creaser.