The Canadian Senior Women’s Baseball Championships are in full swing in Halifax this weekend.
It's the first time Nova Scotia has played host to the national tournament since it was hosted in Sydney, N.S., in 2008.
Team Nova Scotia hopes to draw on the home-field advantage.
“It’s pretty exciting, most of our friends and family are here and our crowds are usually really loud," said Ellie MacAulay, an outfielder and pitcher with team Nova Scotia. "Maritimers are always great for support.”
There's a lot of baseball being played over the weekend and eventually, one team will be crowned champion with the gold medal game being played Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Mainland Common Baseball Field.
The coaching staff for the women's national baseball team is here this weekend, scouting and evaluating players and will announce Team Canada's new roster on Sunday. The team will represent Canada at the upcoming Women's World Cup of Baseball in 2024.
"As much as it’s about talent, we’re looking for quality individuals as well," said Team Canada coach and former national team player Kate Psota. "It’s about what the girls bring off the diamond as much as on the diamond.
"We need a team to come together fairly quickly and so we need the girls to be able to gel together.”
Nova Scotia opened the tournament Thursday morning against Quebec's select team, the province also has an elite team playing in the tournament.
Nova Scotia’s bats were hot off the get-go, and they built an early 4-0 lead over Quebec.
They have strong pitching from starter Jaida Lee who joined the team Nova Scotia from St. John’s, N.L.
Team Nova Scotia is fielding a team with players from across Atlantic Canada, with players from New Brunswick and P.E.I. on the roster as well.
“It’s different playing with a different province and a whole new group of girls," said Lee. "I haven’t met a lot of these girls before so it’s pretty good to them behind you and cheering you on, it’s pretty nice.”
Nova Scotia wants to win, they believe they can compete with the bigger provinces, but at the same time, they're happy to be competing at all.
The at-times severe weather this summer has disrupted parts of their season and kept them off the diamond, like the flash-flooding that impacted parts of the province including a practice field in Hammonds Plains.
“We’ve had hurricanes, wildfires and flooding and there are parts of HRM still underwater," said MacAulay who had four hits against Quebec and was named Nova Scotia's MVP after the game.
"We are lucky enough to play here and the field looks great. They did a great job here but we had a lot of games cancelled this year.”
Quebec made it close in the third inning when they got some timely hitting and knotted the game 5-5.
But momentum swung back in Nova Scotia's favour as they doubled up their opponent 12-6 was the final.
There's a lot of baseball to be played in a short amount of time and one of the keys to success is having a deep pitching rotation and keeping the arms fresh.
“Lots of warmup, lots of prep before," said Lee. "And good sleep, good food, and lots of water, just the basic stuff.”
Nova Scotia hosts Saskatchewan on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. There will be an official opening ceremony happening before the game.
Admission to the game is $5 and minor baseball players who wear their team's shirt can get in for $2. To find out more visit the tournament website.
