麻豆社区

They may be down, but they鈥檙e certainly not defeated.

Player-coach Roni-Sue Steinhagen sounded anything but a coach whose club just dropped their first three games by lopsided scores at the Women鈥檚 Canadian Slo- pitch Championships in Dorchester, Ont.

In fact, Steinhagen was upbeat in an interview Tuesday, and said her Fountain Tire Titans are maintaining an enthusiastic approach to the Yukon鈥檚 first appearance at a women鈥檚 national championship in a couple of decades.

鈥淲e are meeting a lot of great people, having a lot of great chats and we鈥檙e learning a lot,鈥� she said following their third loss on the opening day of the 10-team tournament. 鈥淭his is our first tournament as a team where the calibre is so high.鈥�

The Titans lost yesterday 24-1 to Manitoba, 23-6 to Alberta 3 and 28-0 to Alberta 1. They dropped this morning鈥檚 game 19-4 to the host team.

Meanwhile, the Yukon men are also running up against some formidable competition in Dorchester.

The Urban Realty Reds have lost their first six games as round robin play continues today and is scheduled to wrap up tomorrow, with the playoff round going ahead Friday.

The coach of the Fountain Tire Titans said while the scores have been one-sided, the opposing teams are very supportive and applauding the grit the Yukon is showing.

The Alberta provincial champions were particularly helpful Tuesday by providing tips, Steinhagen said.

鈥淭hey have all been really helpful and they are all excited about coming to Whitehorse next year,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he biggest question is how much light is there in Whitehorse.鈥�

She said the Alberta coach told her that her husband is an national calibre umpire and when he heard the Yukon was hosting next year鈥檚 women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 championships, he picked up the phone and booked a spot on the blue crew.

The Titans are doing a good job on defence, and they鈥檙e getting the ball in fast, she said.

Steinhagen said it鈥檚 just that the opposing teams do such a good job of hitting.

鈥淓verybody, our opponents, know where to hit the ball and they are hitting it there.鈥�

Steinhagen said the Titans are not used to playing open innings where there is no limit on how many runs a team can score in one inning, unlike the rules for the Whitehorse slo-pitch league.

Combine that with the hot and humid conditions, on top of a taxing schedule of three games per day, and the national championship is taking its toll, she said.

鈥淏ut we are keeping our spirits up as a team and the competition is helping keep our spirits up as well,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have been having team debriefing meetings after the games, talking about what we learned, what we thought we did well and what we need to work on.

鈥淎 lot of the coaches I have been talking to and other players tell us how proud they are of us coming down, which is awesome.鈥�

Robb Andison, a Softball Canada representative from Whitehorse who is in Dorchester helping with the event, has also noticed the support for the Titans.

鈥淭hey are the belle of the ball, and everybody is impressed with them,鈥� he said in an interview Tuesday. 鈥淭hey are doing really well. They are hitting the ball well and they are really enthusiastic.鈥�