Foundational Magic team joins Softball Hall

The players and coaches who put the Westman Magic program on the map joined the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The Magic teams from 1998 to 2003 reconnected at the Victoria Inn as they became the first group in program history to join the Hall.

“It’s a big honour,” said Brett Turner, one of the coaches who pushed a team of 15-year-olds to play in the Manitoba Ladies Super Softball League against adults.

“We got thumped sometimes, but we managed to win sometimes, too. Learning to play against tough competition, I think the team grew over the years. We started out working on fundamentals, and over the years, developed.”

The team featured players from Brandon, Arden, Chater, Dauphin, Melita, Virden, Neepawa and even Pierson — Becky Riddell (nee Lee) made the 160-kilometre commute to the Wheat City multiple times a week.

“Great kids, fun to work with, listen and worked on their skills,” Turner said. “A lot of kudos need to go to the parents. The fathers of the pitchers worked hard with them, driving miles and miles to go to different events.”

There wasn’t a formal league for youth teams back then, so they had to find their own games.

It took a few years of building from the team’s formation in the fall of 1996 to find major success.

But Westman broke through in a big way, capturing two provincial titles and a bronze medal at the midget level, then added a gold and a silver in junior, earning a total of three trips to nationals and one to westerns.

Five of the Magic players earned spots on Team Manitoba for the 2001 Canada Games, including Neepawa’s Sherrie White, who went on to play hockey for the University of North Dakota.

White was surprised to hear her old team was being honoured.

“I didn’t even expect it, honestly. It’s been 20 years since we played together, so you forget about it, so it’s pretty cool. My brother and dad have been inducted as teams into the Baseball Hall of Fame, so that’s pretty cool,” White said.

“It was a pretty special group, a close group. We were joking today, we don’t remember as much about winning anything as staying in touch and the teammates and friendships over the years.

“I tell my kids … most of what we talked about when things came up, it had nothing to do with wins and losses. It was the fun on and off the field, the places we got to go together to play ball. In 20 years, you won’t remember the wins and losses, but hopefully you’re still friends with some of your teammates.”

The other Team Manitoba athletes included Riddell and Erica Mock (nee Cochrane), who continued her softball career at Minot State, along with pitchers Megan McCrae and Laura Dixon.

McCrae, a Brandonite, went on to pitch for Montana State University Billings.

Dixon played for a few southern college programs, including Delta State University, where she was named to the Gulf South all-conference team and earned 24 wins, striking out 223 batters and posting a 2.46 earned-run average in 2004-05.

Looking back, Dixon feels the Magic squad, led by coaches Turner, Bev Neufeld, Jim Hay, Jason Moffatt, Lex Langston, Alison Dixon and Ray Cochrane, was instrumental in her growth.

“This team was such a pivotal moment in our youth. We grew up together. It was an amazing experience and I really feel it shaped who we’ve become today,” Dixon said.

“Our coaches were very determined; they had a vision for us and wanted us to improve.

“As we played together year in, year out, we played all winter. We were in the gym, we were training all year. The familiarity with each other and our skill development, it only increased year over year.”

The Hall of Fame class also included Brandon’s Jimmy Mann and Boissevain’s Dean Fuller.

In addition, Brandon’s Bruce Leubke was recognized as Softball Manitoba’s umpire of the year.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com