U13 Norcrest team wraps up the season

By Cole Parkinson
For Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

This past weekend, U13 Norcrest played host to the Major A Championship tournament. With games going in Taber, the team was excited to get out and play in front of their home fans. After a great round-robin and a win in the semi-final, the team had a chance to take the tournament win in the final.

“I think the tournament was a huge success. I think all the teams had a good time and it was great to see all the people hanging out at the diamonds,” explained Dave Kimoto, head coach. “Unfortunately for our team, we came up on the losing end of a great baseball game and lost 5-4 in the finals to take home second place, but the team battled hard the whole game and never gave up. I am so proud of them for the season we had and the effort they gave every game.” 

Despite the loss in the finals, the entire weekend was a huge success for the team. Looking back over the four-day tournament, the coaching staff was happy with how their team performed, but also with how competitive the teams were. As far as highlights from the tournament, one thing that stuck out for Kimoto was the home run derby.

“There were a few things that impressed me over the weekend. It was so fun to see players from all the different teams come together and hang out with each other. It was also fun to see the teams show off their talents at the skills competition and cheer each other on,” added Kimoto. “The home run derby was definitely the highlight and all the players would go crazy for any of the balls that were hit over the fence. There were lots of great competitive games throughout the weekend and I think everyone had fun.”

While the season may be over now, Kimoto says everyone on the team will remember this team for how hard they worked and how much fun was had. From start to end, this team was able to accomplish lots of things on and off the diamond.

“We had a really good group of players this year that all worked hard and were very fun to coach, but the way that they came together and became friends was the most important thing to me,” stated Kimoto. “To be able to see them hang out together at all the different tournaments through the season, whether it be on the ball diamond or in the hotel pools, the memories they’ve made as friends will be what they remember most. Even after the final game after a very hot weekend, they went back out onto the diamond as friends and played more ball while the parents were cleaning up.” 

And Kimoto wanted to shout out the parents for all they did throughout the season. With the season running through the bulk of the summer, it’s not a small commitment and Kimoto wanted to make sure the parents were acknowledged for all they did. 

“Again I would like to thank all of the parents for giving up most of their summer so their kids could play ball and especially for all the early mornings and late nights they put in over this weekend to make hosting our tournament a huge success,” he said. “I would also like to thank all of our sponsors for their generosity to help with making the prizes and gifts for the players something great.”