U13 Magic confident ahead of softball provincials

Softball suddenly became a much bigger part of life for most of the under-13 Westman Magic girls this year.

They went from house league to AAA, from playing a few months of the summer to multiple indoor practices a week all winter. Now, they’re trying to take their game from Friedensfeld to Abbotsford, B.C.

The Magic head to the town south of Steinbach for provincials starting Thursday, seeking one of two berths in the Western Canadian Championships on Aug. 7-10.

“Our goal since the start, since we all made this team, was to make it to Westerns,” said catcher Ayven Chuchmuch.

“Starting the season, training through the winter, that’s been our big goal.”

Now, 15 wins in 22 regular-season games later, the team has plenty of reasons to be confident entering the seven-team event.

“All of our team has gotten multiple hits throughout the year, everyone’s contributing. Bunting, hitting, we’re all working hard and it’s paying off,” said first baseman Kiara Spratt.

“We have to focus on our fielding. I think if our fielding is on, we can easily get to Abbotsford and win the whole thing.”

Everyone’s chasing the Interlake Phillies, who went 23-0 and only had four games decided by five or fewer runs. Two of those were against Westman, which was the closest to ending the perfect season in a 4-2 decision on May 24.

The Magic, meanwhile, won 11 of their games by seven or more runs with just one blowout loss all year in the Manitoba Premier Softball League.

For most of them, it was a big adjustment in their first summer playing AAA.

“It was definitely a big change,” Spratt said. “We learned many new defence styles, bunt defence … how to track balls better, it’s completely different from house league.

“We have to make sure we know who our cuts are at all times and bunt defence, who’s covering where and always know where the next play will be.”

They spent most of June in tournament mode, first reaching the final of their home Wheat City Classic before falling in a tight final to the Eastman Wildcats.

Westman headed to Melfort, Sask., again reaching the gold-medal game the following weekend.

Then on June 22, it capped a dominant run through the Dickinson Diamonds tournament in North Dakota, invoking the run rule in every game.

Those weekends on the road taught the girls a lot about how to handle their big four-day tournament ahead, featuring at least two games per day.

“Eating healthy, drinking lots of water, making sure we go to bed on time and keeping up our energy throughout the day,” Chuchmuch said of the keys to tournament success.

“It’s nice to get to play other teams other than the teams in our league. It’s good to get to know everyone more on our team.”

Head coach Adam Hartman has been pleased with how the group came together, with just three full-time players back from last year’s U13 team that hosted Westerns — Brooke Hartman, Logan Rome and Brielle McGonigal, with Bryelle Simard on the team as an affiliate player.

“The girls have come a long way. We’ve had a ton of success throughout the year,” Hartman said. “We’ve proven we can beat everybody and we’ve looked very dominant at times. We’ve had great games with Interlake, great games with Central and Eastman.”

The four non-Winnipeg teams have been the clear-cut top four in the age class and the only ones above .500 in the regular season.

With a full round robin at provincials sending the top two teams into a 1-2 Page playoff game on Sunday morning, the big matchups are Eastman, Central and Interlake.

Since teams play six round-robin games in three days, they’ll hope to make quick work of the Smitty’s Terminators, Winnipeg Lightning and Manitoba Angels to stay fresh.

On the other hand, Hartman feels his team is deep enough to have everyone play bigger roles when necessary.

“I’m confident in all of our girls because we’ve put the time and the work in,” Hartman said. “We’ve had girls playing multiple positions all year, we’ve been pitching four pitchers, we’ve got multiple options at every position. That depth and experience is going to pay off in a big way for us.

“In provincials, of course, in must-win games, we’re going to be able to make the adjustment and ride the hot hand, whoever’s looking the most confident and the strongest at the position at the time, so gaining that valuable experience throughout the year and having that is only going to help in this tournament when we tighten things up a little.”

At the U13 level, all active players have to be in the batting order, not just a select nine. Also, pitchers can only throw in three innings each game, meaning at least two will pitch in any game that’s within 15 runs through three innings.

Chuchmuch trusts all four — Hartman, Rome, Simard and Meredith Masson.

“It’s been amazing. They do such a good job pitching. They can hit spots, they have multiple pitches, it’s great having them,” Chuchmuch said, adding she’s learned a lot about how to call the game.

“I’ve learned you have to watch the batters too, it’s not just a certain pitcher. You have to think of what they’ve been swinging at, what makes them hit, because our defence is very strong, so just getting them to hit is what we need.

“I feel some pressure. Not a lot while I’m playing, it’s mostly just thinking beforehand, but once I get out there, it’s not that bad.”

The Magic face the Angels to open provincials on Thursday at 1 p.m., then face the Winnipeg Lightning at 5 o’clock.

On Friday, they go back-to-back against the Interlake Phillies at 5 p.m., then Central Energy at 7 o’clock.

Westman plays Eastman on Saturday at noon, then rounds out the round robin against Smitty’s at 2 p.m.

On Sunday, the top two teams play at 10 a.m., for a trip to the final and the first Westerns berth. Third and fourth also square off at 10, with the winner playing the loser of the 1-2 game at noon for the second spot. The final goes at 2:45 p.m.

“This year has been great,” Spratt said. “I loved all the girls, coaching has been great, super fun experience, and I can’t wait to hopefully play in Westerns.”

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