The Stettler Bantam AA Sliders hosted round three provincials at West Stettler Park over the weekend of July 4-5, emerging victorious and unbeaten through the two days of play.
Teams from Acme, Calgary, Sylvan Lake and Fort McLeod travelled to the park to play, with Stettler first coming up to bat against Sylvan Lake.
"We played really well," team manager Annett Lee said. "Our pitching was solid, our defense stronger. Our bats were still a little quiet, and we have to work on that."
In the first game, the Sliders pulled a first-ever, sending the Sylvan Lake team to defeat in just five innings, saving their opponents from further embarrassment, before the full seven innings were played.
"That was a first for us," Lee said.
The second game for the Sliders pitched them against Fort McLeod, and it was no walk in the park, according to Lee.
"It was a close game," she said. "There was a lot of back-and-forth, but we managed to build a lead and keep it."
Those wins pitted the Sliders against the team from Calgary, and it didn't get off to a good start, with the Sliders falling behind the big-city team.
"We came from behind," Lee said, adding that the team tightened its defense and slowly whittled away at Calgary's lead, eventually creeping ahead of the team to win and emerge with no losses.
The Sliders’ next game is in Stettler on Thursday, July 9, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at West Stettler Park.
Next weekend, the team travels to Sylvan Lake for the second half of the round three provincials, which will set them up for the finals later this month.