Players, coaches from Kelowna and West Kelowna celebrate championship win

Baseball's golden girls

Photo: Filipe De Carvalho

Juliette Kladko, Kaila De Carvalho, Rachel Tam, Ashley Stewart.

A group of baseball players and coaches from the Central Okanagan are celebrating gold after winning the Western Canadian Championships in Saskatoon.

Kelowna's Kaila De Carvalho and coach Ashley Stewart helped the BC 14U Aces girls baseball team to victory over Alberta in the finals in Saskatoon, Aug. 17.

De Carvalho plays with the Central Okanagan Sun Devils, and she led the team, hitting 11 for 19, with two home runs and driving in 10 RBIs over the three-day event.

Stewart, a long-time women’s baseball coach and player, coached with assistant Rachel Tam, and head coach Juliette Kladko.

The team went 3-2 in tournament play and pulled together on championship Sunday, with a convincing 16-1 win over Saskatchewan in semi-final play, and another decisive 16-4 victory over Alberta in the final.

"Truly special group that overcame the odds and brought home B.C.'s first gold in 14U since 2018 – it is awesome to be back on top,” says Kladko.

De Carvalho also plays with Yolo Baseball, B.C.’s first girls travel team.

The team, founded by Kristy Watson, Juliette Kladko and Vanessa McKinley, gives female baseball players opportunities to compete in different age groups and to travel to baseball tournaments. Yolo will be returning to Arizona in December for the annual Leighton Accardo Memorial tournament with teams ranging from 10U to 18U.

Any girls interested in trying out are encouraged to check out yolobaseball.com and baseball.bc.ca/girls.