Joey Payeur
All last-place finishes are not created equal.
Nestor Falls native Erin Tomalty is proof of that—despite skipping her Fort Frances-based rink of third Anika Beaudry, second Tory Beaudry, and lead Katrina Slomke to a 1-6 record that left them at the back of the pack at the Bantam girls’ provincial championship in Thessalon.
For starters, it was Tomalty’s first crack at skipping at a provincial event since her usual on-ice gig sees her playing second for defending NorWOSSA and NWOSSAA champ Hailey Beaudry.
“I think I have even more appreciation for the front end after having been a skip now,” Tomalty admitted.
“They have a really big part to do with the team’s success with the sweeping that they do.”
Then there was the matter of playing short-handed for the first three games in Thessalon because Tory Beaudry was away on a Fort High trip to Quebec.
“That was really hard,” Tomalty said about trying to make do with a three-person team.
“Everyone on the team was still trying to get their weight down early on,” she noted.
“We’ve got someone like Katrina, who’s in Grade 7, having to sweep six rocks in a row,” Tomalty explained.
“I don’t think we were able to do our best in that situation.”
Tomalty’s skeleton crew opened with a 9-4 loss to Emma Landry (New Liskeard), gave up a six-ender in the first to fall 12-6 to Cassidy Romyn (Sioux Lookout), and then were blanked 10-0 in six ends by Tiana Gaudry (Thunder Bay).
It didn’t look like much had changed when Tomalty’s second arrived on the scene in time for the second draw on Friday.
Sudbury’s Jessica Leonard jumped out to a 6-0 lead after four ends before the Fort rink stormed back.
A seemingly harmless single in the fifth to get on the board was followed by a gigantic steal of five in the sixth to tie the score.
With Leonard reeling, Tomalty’s group finished the rally with steals in the seventh and eighth ends to wrap up a stunning 8-6 victory.
“I wouldn’t say we were confident after four ends but we didn’t give up,” Tomalty said.
“We kept doing what we were good at and, yet, we also changed our style a little and started drawing up more to her rocks and I think that threw them off,” she added.
“With the five-ender, we got a really good set-up with some good guards from Katrina, and they missed their shots and we kept drawing around ours into the house,” Tomalty recalled.
“Then they switched to trying to hit but they weren’t getting what they wanted.
“I made a draw to lie five and [Leonard] threw her last one through the house,” Tomalty added.
“To win like that really picked up our spirits.”
The Fort quartet couldn’t maintain the momentum, though, as eventual finalist Hayley Horton (Blind River) broke open a 4-3 game with two in the fifth and a steal of three in the sixth en route to a 9-4 win.
Tomalty gave Sydnie Stinson (Copper Cliff) a good run before succumbing 6-4 in her second-last draw, then faced the team that ruled the week in her finale.
Sudbury’s Kira Brunton went 8-0 to capture the championship, including a 10-0 shutout of Tomalty in six ends.
She later beat Horton 7-4 in Sunday’s final.
“[Brunton] had a great team,” lauded Tomalty. “I honestly think it was a great game we played against them.
“They’re awesome curlers and they were getting four- and five-enders against everyone else, and we were at least limiting them mostly to one- and two-enders,” she noted.
“But they just didn’t miss a shot.”
Tomalty and Tory Beaudry now will aim to apply the lessons learned in Thessalon to their next mission.
They will reunite with Hailey Beaudry and third Nicole Hartlin to try and defend their NWOSSAA crown Feb. 22-23 in Sioux Lookout and book a second-straight trip to the all-Ontarios.
“This event taught me to make sure to be patient all the time and try my hardest to stay positive throughout the whole game,” Tomalty said.
