Westman teams Storm to AA titles

Westman teams won five of the six medals during the under-11 AA and U13 AA provincial championships at Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex on Sunday.

In U13 play, Westman Storm beat the Westman Heat 19-12 for gold, and Westman Fury topped Central Charge Purple 12-8 for bronze.

“It’s fantastic,” Storm head coach Terri Williamson said. “Two years ago (in U11) our group won gold and last year we didn’t make it to the medal round. This is extra special for us.”

In the U11 division, the Westman Storm beat Westman Fury 7-3 and the Westman Heat fell 9-8 to the Manitoba Reapers on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Westman Storm teams are from south of the Trans-Canada Highway and the Westman Fury are from north of the Trans-Canada, while the Westman Heat and Westman Power are from Brandon.

U11

In U11, all four Westman teams moved on to the quarterfinals. Beyond one game that pitted two Westman teams against each other, the Westman clubs were 10-1 in the round-robin.

In the quarterfinals, the Westman Storm beat Westman Power 7-5, the Westman Fury topped the Southwest Strikers 9-4, the Westman Heat were edged 6-5 by Winnipeg Bolts Blue and the Manitoba Reapers crushed the Interlake Maroons 13-0.

That set up semifinal matchups between the Storm and the Heat, with the Storm emerging with a 6-5 victory.

The Westman Fury spanked the Manitoba Reapers 9-2 in the other game.

In the showcase final in June, the Storm beat the Fury, and they were able to do it again on Sunday.

“We played these guys in the showcase and we knew what we were up against,” head coach Kevin Reimer said. “(Fury head coach) Steve (Malcolm) and I coached together last year so it was one of those games where we wanted to win but knew it would be a good, friendly competition and we just happened to come out on top. It was good. The girls fought hard.”

The Storm went 6-0 through the tournament.

The club had girls all the way from Elkhorn to Carberry so it was a spread-out group but everybody made the practices.

Reimer said it was neat to watch them come together and have a successful year.

“At the start of the year, we said if the kids can learn something as individuals, if we can play it fair and win some games — in that order — then we want them to develop as human beings first,” Reimer said. “Obviously they grew as ball players. It was fun to see them win both on and off the field. That means more to me than anything.”

U13

All four Westman teams advanced to the quarterfinals in U13, with a combined record of 11-1.

The Westman Storm edged Westman Power 7-5, Westman Heat snuck by Central Charge White 6-5, Westman Fury beat the Winnipeg Bolts Blue 14-6 and Central Charge Purple handed the Manitoba Reapers a 12-3 loss.

In the semifinals, Westman Storm beat Westman Heat 6-5 and Westman Fury beat Central Charge Purple 9-2 to set up the bronze- and gold-medal games.

The teams had the U13 showcase last weekend: The Storm followed that up by going 6-0 this weekend at provincials when it counted.

“Our thing was that we were here to win the whole thing and they did,” Williamson said. “They battled hard and were in it every inning trying to do their best.”

The team featured players from Boissevain, Reston, Melita, Deloraine and Virden.

In a wild final, the Storm and Heat each scored four runs in the opening frame, and the Heat were up 10-7 after three. But the Storm kept scoring, with three runs in the fourth and fifth innings to build a 13-10 lead.

The Heat pulled back within a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but when the Storm scored six runs in the top of the sixth inning, they put the game out of reach for a 19-12 mercy-rule victory.

(Teams can only score six runs per inning.)

“Provincials are an endurance test and our pitchers and catcher especially had a lot to get through in this game,” Williamson said. “They battled back to win her, which was pretty special.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com