U17 Heat come together to earn title

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This article was published 06/08/2024 (455 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Westman Heat head coach Bob Birch thinks about his under-17 AA provincial championship team in the future, he’ll have no shortage of positives to remember.

“They were very skilled,” Birch said. “They were real good ball players. As I got to spend time with them, I found they were even better people. As the season went on, you could just see them connecting with each other as they played catch and were goofing around. They had a quiet confidence and they liked each other, and I liked being with them.

“They were fun to be around, and wanted to work hard and get better and wanted to win. You’re taking girls off their minor ball team that maybe bat first or second or third and now they’re batting seventh, eighth or 12th and I didn’t hear any complaints from anybody about that.”

The Heat won the provincial title after going 6-1 in Morden from July 26 to 28.

While there are multiple AA teams in Westman in the U11, U13 and U15 divisions, U17 is different because there are far fewer players. As a result, instead of fielding Heat, Storm and Fury teams, one Heat squad represented all of Westman.

They all played in the seven-team Southwest Girls Softball League to qualify, with AA tryouts held in early May.

Since the A season ended at provincials on July 12 to 14 — Hamiota earned a bronze medal — the Heat only had two full weeks to put in some work together since AA teams are only allowed to practise on Fridays and Sundays during the A season.

The roster included Cadence Gerry, Alyssa Newitt and Kaitlyn Couckuyt of Brandon, Alyssa Kirk, Tristin McTavish, Taylor Lawn and Alyshia McKinnon of Hamiota, McCanna Wiesner and Harley Chrisp of Killarney, plus Boissevain’s Kennedy Birch, Glenboro’s Taidyn Lalonde, Nesbitt’s Heidi Danners and Strathclair’s Mya McDonald.

Birch, who lives in Boissevain, was assisted by Dave Danners of Nesbitt and Sydney Murray of Hamiota.

“They might not be friends but they’ve all played against each other or been picked up,” Birch said. “My daughter Kennedy went to provincials with Hamiota last year and played with five of them last year and went with Brandon this year and played with a couple more. They’ve probably been playing against each other since they were 10 and some of them played hockey so they cross over, so they were all pretty familiar with each other.”

The Heat moved their practices around between Hamiota, Brandon and Boissevain so that all the driving didn’t fall on some players.

Birch said the players’ commitment to the team immediately stood out, with nobody grumbling about travelling. In an early conversation, they targeted winning provincials.

“They had a high goal, which was nice,” Birch said. “As coaches, we just had to harness that and let them have that opportunity.”

The first sign they could be a team of destiny came when they won the annual showcase weekend in June in Winnipeg, going 5-1. They also played six exhibition games, so Birch entered provincials knowing it was wide open.

“I’m certain if you play it three more times, you’d have two or three different winners,” Birch said. “The calibre was good. I knew our girls were capable — they showed that in the showcase — and as coaches, we just wanted to make sure the girls were loose, because there is pressure, they’re going to provincials and they get tight.”

The team’s plan was to finish in the top four among the six teams in the round-robin, which would move them into Sunday’s playoff round. The games were set for seven innings or 90 minutes, and they played under roster batting rules where every player got to the plate, not just the nine on the field.

There were also unlimited substitutions.

On Friday, the Heat opened with a 10-1 win over the Manitoba Reapers, and immediately after fell 2-1 to the Central Charge. Central scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to go up 2-1, and then the game reached its time limit and was called.

“It was the way I love softball being played,” Birch said of the loss. “It was really good pitching for both teams, the defence was good and there wasn’t a lot of hits … Obviously it was a loss but it didn’t really feel like a loss because it was a well-played game.”

Before the day ended, Westman rebounded from a 7-3 deficit to beat Parkland Power 8-7 to end the day 2-1.

On Saturday, they topped the Eastman Blaze 10-8 and finished the round-robin 4-1 with a 15-4 romp over the Bonivital Bolts.

“The girls just went out and played and hit the ball really well against Eastman and we got that victory,” Birch said. “That guaranteed we were in the playoffs, and we came out against Bonivital — they knew they were in the playoffs as well — and the girls just kept hitting and hitting and hitting and we got good defence and good pitching.

“We were able to come out with two big wins. The girls left the diamond feeling really good. You could see them coming together.”

He said it was a quieter team, but their collective energy just kept rising.

In the semifinals on Sunday morning, second-place Westman met third-place Eastman again. They fell behind early but exploded for six runs to take a 6-1 lead.

The Blaze chipped away at the lead, and in the fifth inning, they got within a run at 6-5 and had runners on, but when the Heat got the final out, the game timed out.

“If the game had continued another inning, who knows what may have happened,” Birch said. “They seemed to be going one direction and we were just trying to hang on but the girls did that. They were really solid defensively all weekend.”

In the other semifinal, first-place Central topped fourth-place Bonivital 8-6 to set up a rematch of Friday’s outstanding game.

After Westman won the coin flip and became home team, the first two innings of the final were scoreless. Central took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third but Westman promptly scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

“It seemed every time we gave up a run or two, we came back and got one of them back or more,” Birch said. “We were down 2-0, we got six and all of a sudden it was 6-2 after the third.”

The Heat, who were hitting the ball hard and moving base runners around, added two more in the fourth inning to make it 8-2. When they scored another run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 9-2, they earned a mercy-rule victory.

“It was a little anticlimatic when we got ahead but the girls didn’t play that way at all,” Birch said. “They didn’t take anything for granted. When we got that final run to end the game, it was right at home plate so the girls all came running out. It wasn’t like a catch in centrefield where they have to run to her, they were at the plate together hugging and cheering. It was really nice.”

The Heat used four pitchers, Birch, Wiesner, McTavish and McKinnon — the latter pitched both games on Sunday — but their coach said it was truly a 13-player effort.

“Our girls played great defence all weekend,” Birch said. “We had contributions from everybody offensively. We hit really well on the weekend, and it didn’t seem to matter if you were batting at the top or in the middle or at the end. Girls were coming through with clutch hits.”

The only tough part was it brought a great experience to an end.

“It was easy to be at the diamond with them,” Birch said. “They worked hard, they were skilled so there wasn’t a lot of teaching, you just made sure you were fostering everything they did.

“The parents were wonderful as well. They were a great group. When you were at the diamond, there was lots of talking amongst players and coaches and parents. It was a really great group to be part of.”

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