Fireballer Forbes links up with Lightning

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This article was published 08/08/2025 (303 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Anna Forbes left the Westman Magic for her final AAA season only to end up back at Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex anyway.

Forbes, a 19-year-old fireball pitcher from Glenboro who also plays at the University of Calgary, joined the Winnipeg Lightning and is in action with her club (3-1) this weekend at the under-19 western Canadian softball championship in Brandon.

She and Jade Campbell, who was picked up from the U17 Magic by the Lightning, are the only Westman players in the event.

“When I found out that westerns were here, I was really excited,” Forbes said. “I’m 45 minutes from here, this has been my home diamond for the last four years, so it was awesome. I get to come back here and end my U19 career here.”

The story of how she ended up in Winnipeg is a little convoluted.

The U19 age group is the one where a trickle of players leaving the game becomes an avalanche. Westman only had a handful of players willing to suit up this summer, so they joined forces with the Eastman Selects to form a team that played under the Magic moniker.

Westman’s Naomi McKay, Kendall Charles, and Ky Solomon all joined the team, which was heavily populated by players who were also on Manitoba’s entry into the Canada Summer Games.

As a result, the U19 Magic were essentially using the summer as a tune-up for their trip to Newfoundland, leaving Forbes in a bit of a quandary.

“When I first heard about it, we thought we were going to be able to field a team here,” Forbes said. “Then I heard we weren’t going to be able to field a team and that it was going to be out of Freidensfeld, which is like a two-and-a-half-hour drive for me. I was like, ‘OK, the distance is already hard,’ then they told me that they were only planning on playing 10 games total. “I needed to play more to go back to Calgary to pitch at the university level in Canada. I just thought I had more of an opportunity to play more games and get more field time with Lightning.”

There was certainly some familiarity inherent in the decision.

A year ago, the U19 Magic program faced a similar dilemma and teamed up with the Lightning to form a U19 club that ended up at nationals.

Forbes is the only returnee of the nine Westman players from that team, but Winnipeggers Madison Lyburn, Lindsay Smart, Bryndis Namaka, and Turner’s daughter Leah Bunio — plus Jenae Russell of Oak Bluff — are all back.

Last year’s team held many of their practices in Glenboro, which was more central for everyone, but this year they trained in Winnipeg.

The five-foot-eight Forbes, who mainly pitches but also plays some outfield, said the transition has been seamless.

“It’s been really good,” Forbes said. “I knew a majority of the girls because we combined last year, the Lightning and Magic, so then I knew all the 19-year-olds on the team, and all the ’07s I’ve met have been awesome, so it’s been really easy to incorporate.”

Lightning head coach Tracy Turner, a Winnipegger whose parents are from Boissevain, said it was an ideal solution for everyone.

“We ended up having a third pitcher who decided not to play, so we were in a situation where we only had two,” Turner said. “Her situation with Westman, she was able to get a release based on the structure of the team they had in place, and so it worked out for her, and it worked out for us.”

“She has played a year of university ball in Calgary, and so just that experience and having a pitcher with her speed,” Turner added about her hard-throwing chucker. “She’s the fastest of our three pitchers, so it’s nice to have someone with a little more speed.”

When she was heading to Lightning games, the drive was about an hour and 45 minutes one way. To help her out, they held some practices southwest of the city in Oak Bluff, which shaved about 50 minutes off her round trip.

“It was tough, but with my dad coaching, I was able to do a lot of my practices in Glenboro,” Forbes said. “We would just go to the cages ourselves, or I would go with my brother (Tucker), and he would catch for me. It wasn’t terrible. Tracy was super good about me not coming to every single practice.”

For Turner, who also got an assistant coach in the bargain with Anna’s father, Corey, it was an easy decision. She admires the dedication the pair have shown.

“She’s a great kid, and she has a great family,” Turner said. “Having Corey come and coach is huge. The commitment that they’re making — it isn’t like last year when we practised in Glenboro — she was having to come into Winnipeg, so the commitment is awesome.”

The Lightning were 3-10 in the regular season in the five-team league, then finished third at provincials in July, which meant they and the fourth-place team, the Smitty’s Terminators, booked spots to the westerns this weekend.

The eight-team showdown began in Brandon on Thursday, with Forbes named her team’s player of the game in their debut when she was on the mound for their 7-2 loss to the Langley Xtreme.

“I felt good, it’s just hard to see your team down,” Forbes said. “It’s a team sport, so when I’m sitting there waiting for them to hit, it’s tough to be like, ‘Come on guys, let’s get a hit,’ and watching people struggle. It felt good to get player of the game but also crappy to see my team struggle.”

They rebounded to beat the SBR Rockies 8-4 on Thursday afternoon.

Despite rain soaking the complex early Friday, the diamonds were ready for action, but the tournament still faced a three-hour delay due to smoke. As a result, games were reduced from seven innings to five for the day to deal with the backlog. By the end of the day, the delay was cut to just 90 minutes.

On Friday, the Lightning beat the Leduc Jets 5-2 with Forbes on the mound and then topped the Ladysmith Chargers 2-1.

After two days of action, Winnipeg, Smitty’s, and Langley all sit at 3-1, while SBR, Leduc, and Ladysmith are 2-2. Lakeland is 1-3, and Regina is winless at 0-4.

The round-robin ends after Saturday’s action, with the top four teams advancing to the Page playoff system on Sunday.

Forbes certainly has lots of softball ahead of her after westerns are over.

She just finished her first year at the University of Calgary, where she studied arts but is now going into business.

Calgary’s squad is a self-funded club team, which means they don’t have the same backing as varsity sports but do compete under the school’s name in the eight-team Western Collegiate Softball Association.

“It’s a club sport, and we have a whole league out in Canada,” Forbes said. “It’s all over Canada. I didn’t even know about it, but when I found out, I texted the coaches and said, ‘Do you have a spot on the team there?’ And he said, ‘Sure, send me a couple of videos,’ and now I play ball there.

“It’s really good actually. I really enjoy the team, and the league is awesome. They have it curated for student-athletes. I’m able to have a full course load and play the sport at the same time.”

The Dinos beat Regina 7-3 to win bronze in the WCSA playoffs last October and hosted the Canadian Collegiate Softball Association nationals but didn’t earn a medal.

Forbes wants to have one around her neck in Brandon this weekend, however.

“Gold medal hopefully,” Forbes said with a chuckle about her hopes for the weekend. “Top four get to try and play for it, so hopefully we can keep winning.”

pbergson@brandonsun.com