Pronghorns softball team hosts a weekend at Softball Valley

By Dale Woodard on September 22, 2021.

After going winless at home last weekend, the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s softball team will be back at Softball Valley this weekend.

Playing in their second weekend of a short season, the Pronghorns were hosts of a stop on the Western Collegiate Softball Association schedule as the Calgary Dinos, SAIT Trojans, UBCO, Regina Cougars and Saskatchewan Huskies hit the diamond.

The Pronghorns went 0-5 on the weekend, but kept it close in their first game Sunday morning in a 9-7 loss to Saskatchewan before falling to Regina to wrap up the weekend.

“Against the University of Saskatchewan we had one inning and the girls came back, so it was a really close game,” said Pronghorns manager Jackie Motokado-Bryant.

Lethbridge almost had a comeback in their final game of the weekend against Regina.

“They got on the bats right away, a bunch of hits. We kind of chipped away, but it was a little too late,” said Motokado-Bryant.

The Pronghorns lost 10-5 to SAIT to start the weekend Saturday and fell to 0-2 with an 8-4 loss to UBCO.

In their third game Saturday they were defeated 9-2 by Calgary.

It was the Pronghorns second weekend of play after going 1-5 at a tournament in Calgary two weeks ago.

“This year, because of COVID, we chose to stay within the province,” said Motokado-Bryant, adding tournaments have been played in B.C. and Saskatchewan. “Our girls have missed two of the tournaments that have been out of province, the one that started in B.C. and the other one in Saskatchewan. So we’ve had quite a few less games and a lot of new players. So we’re just getting to know each other.”

They have a small window to do that in.

“In the beginning it’s a little hard,” said Motokado-Bryant. “I think in the first weekend that was the first time they had even been together as a team. Even in practice they hadn’t been together as a team. It’s such a funny season where it starts in August and a lot of new kids are moving in from all over. We only have one team member from Lethbridge and everyone else is from out of the city, some from Manitoba and central Alberta.”

The Horns return to Softball Valley Saturday for a split weekend against the Calgary teams.

“We’re going to play here against Calgary and SAIT and on Sunday we go to Calgary to play them again,” said Motokado-Bryant. “The other teams in B.C. will do a split and they’ll play the B.C. teams and then the Saskatchewan teams will play each other. They’ll stay in their own provinces and play and then the following weekend is playoffs.”

The Pronghorns play SAIT at 10:30 a.m. and Calgary at 12:30 p.m.

The Horns head to Calgary Sunday to face SAIT and Calgary in a rematch.

“All these games count toward the league and then they do a playoff at the end,” said Motokado-Bryant.

Though they were held winless, Motokado-Bryant noted the chance to play at Softball Valley.

“This facility is the nicest facility around. I’ve been here since the early-80s and played ball here when there was not even one tree. Kudos to the people who run Softball Valley because I know they do an excellent job. The facility is wonderful.”

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