Delisle Pride plays at home on Monday in preparation for the Nationals

Tonight is a chance to see some great softball in Delisle. The hometown Delisle Pride host the Saskatoon Jacks at 6:45 from Harold Worth Park, kicking off their final round of exhibition games before heading to the U23 Nationals in Kitchener, Ontario next week.

A Saskatoon Amateur Softball Association game, the Pride is always happy to bring a game out of town. Team manager Wade Harris says it’s a good chance to fill the seats on diamond #1 in Delisle, as the team from the region is always happy to play in front of the home community.

“It’s always exciting to go to Delisle. We get a really good crowd there and a lot of support,” Harris said, before going into more detail about the teams competing. “We have a bunch of Delisle kids on our team. The Saskatoon Jacks team that we’re playing has a bunch of former Pride players, they’ve got a combination of the old Saskatoon Diamondbacks, who had a lot of Delisle kids on their team as well.” He concluded by calling tonight a good representation for the area, as he expects a good crowd.

The boys are looking forward to playing at home as we prepare for the National Championships in Kitchener Ontario from July 31st to August 4th. photo.twitter.com/7C2RgzwjFs

— MMKL Delisle Pride (@DelislePride) July 18, 2024

As you can see from the competition poster above, Pride will be at Nationals starting July 31. The team has won bronze (2022 Ontario) and silver (2023 Saskatoon) in the past two years, and Harris admitted that this year’s team has quite a few changes compared to their last few tournament rosters.

“Seven of our players have graduated and moved up to the seniors,” said Harris, while the Pride are led by a new core, including leadoff man Max Major from Delisle, who are at the head of an impressive line-up that will be in full force tonight.

After Monday’s game, Harris talked about what else is on the agenda before their departure to Ontario.

“We’ve got three games left in the regular season. Doubleheader (Tuesday), and then we go to Nationals on Monday. The championship starts Wednesday and goes through the long weekend.”

They improved from bronze in 2022, but the silver medal in 2023 was their third runner-up finish in program history.

“Never been over the hump,” said Harris, who hopes those exhibition games will be enough to get the Pride ready for another return to the podium. “We’re definitely going to be fighting for a medal. The Ontario teams are always pretty strong, the player pool they have to choose from is a lot bigger than ours. It’s always been impressive how we’ve been able to compete in such a small province.”

Even though the tournament is only a week away, they are still aiming for gold.

“We’re going there expecting to win. Hopefully we come home with a medal, but we should be in the thick of it all week.”

Check out some previous stories featuring Pride below.