A couple of errors in extra innings cost the Portage Collegiate Institute (PCI) Saints the championship at the Garden Valley Invitational high school fastpitch tournament. They fell 8-7 to Steinbach in six innings.

"It was a tough loss for sure," says head coach Cam Asham. "With the international tie break rule you start with a runner on second, and they held us without a run in the top of the sixth. They started with their runner on in the bottom of the inning and were able to get the run in for the victory."

The Saints started the weekend with three games Friday. They went 3-0 defeating Major Pratt 14-2 in the morning, they shut out Killarney 11-0 in the afternoon, then pulled off a tight victory over Stonewall to finish off the round robin. PCI matched up against Morden in the semifinal and pitchers Kassidy Cunningham and Shayne Nichols combined for a no hitter in three innings pitched for a 19-3 route of the Thunder.

In the final, the Saints found themselves down 4-0 after the first inning. They slowly chipped away at the lead with two runs in the second and a big four run third to take the lead. Steinbach connected for three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to retake the lead by one. The Saints tied things up when Kiera Shwaluk hit a home run on her first pitch to tie the game at 7. A combination of errors led to Steinbach's winning run in the bottom of the sixth.

"It was a good weekend," adds Asham. "We had a lot of good things happen this weekend. A lot of good offensive and defensive things happen so it was a real good weekend."

The Saints are back in action against Sanford in Zone 4 high school fastpitch Monday at Rotary Republic Park in Portage.