The U15 Chatham Golden Eagles are Eastern Canadian Championship winners.
The Golden Eagles beat the Stratford (P.E.I.) Stealers 7-5 in the gold-medal game Sunday evening in Portugal Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador.
They are the first team from the Chatham Girls Minor Softball Association to take home the championship win.
"We've talked all year about giving the girls a chance to do something that nobody from our area has done before," said Coach Jason Nisbett. "They played really well and they were able to pull it off."
The team advanced to the final after a 6-0 playoff win over the Stealers earlier in the day Sunday. The Stealers then won their next game to set up a rematch in the final.
According to Nisbett, the Stealers placed first in the round-robin with a 4-1 record and the Golden Eagles were second at 3-2.
The Golden Eagles split their final two round-robin games Saturday. Nisbett said the team scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat Conception Bay Central (N.L.) and then lost 6-5 to the Black Bears (N.B.).
"We ended up losing our starting right-fielder, Abby Coffin, to a broken ankle early in the tournament," said Nisbett. "Unfortunately she had an incident sliding into the second base but the girls rallied around her."
The championship game on Sunday was the 70th game of this year for the Golden Eagles.
"I believe were 45-22-2 on the year," said Nisbett. "This has been an incredible run. Winning the province and now in Eastern Canada is something I will never forget. We're thankful to the girls for giving us the opportunity to come out. It's been an absolutely incredible summer."
You can watch Sunday's gold-medal game below.
