U13 Magic look for rebound at westerns

If the under-13 Westman Magic can build off their first significant disappointment of the summer, they may be all right as they enter the western Canadian championships this week in Balgonie, Sask.

At provincials from July 23 to 26 in Crystal City, the Magic won their six games in the round-robin and were cruising after also going 24-0-0 in the Manitoba Premier Softball League.

But on championship Sunday, they fell in the 1-vs.-2 game and again in the final to the Winnipeg Lightning to finish with silver.

“It stings but it doesn’t define this team,” head coach Heidi Figol said. “We weren’t ready to be done yet, especially with this group. They’re pretty special to us, and they’re so deserving to go and experience and compete in westerns.

“Their commitment and the way they represented themselves, the team and the program through the season overall is what defines them, and they are absolutely deserving of that competition.”

Both the Lightning and the Magic will attend westerns but don’t square off in the round-robin.

The Magic meet the Saskatchewan bronze medallist Prince Albert Aces on Thursday at 2 p.m. (local time) and the Alberta champion Calgary Adrenaline at 6:30.

On Friday, they meet the Saskatchewan champion Saskatoon Raiders at 1 p.m., and the Alberta silver medallist Red River Rage at 4:30, and they finish the round-robin on Saturday by meeting B.C.’s B champion Westside Outlaws at 9:30 a..m. and the B.C. A champion Ridge Meadows Pride at 3:30 p.m.

Figol’s team is 42-9-1 overall if tournaments are included, but she still learned about her group at provincials. When your team plays nine times in four days, you’re bound to see a little bit of the good, the bad and the ugly.

She said there are a couple of things her team will have to be better at as the level of competition rises in Balgonie, which is located on the Trans Canada Highway near Regina, 340 kilometres west of Brandon.

“We need to stay patient and we need to stay composed,” Figol said. “If we make an error, stay composed and make the play. Don’t double up on an error. Those are the things we saw in the final game. If we make an error or bobble a ball, pick it up and make a good throw. Being able to stay composed in pressure is going to be a definite when we go there.

“And staying energetic. Once our team gets a hit and keeps going, our team keeps hitting. We have to keep the energy and momentum going.”

You can see that in their results at provincials.

After starting the event by beating the Manitoba Angels 12-5 and the Smitty’s Terminators 10-9 on Thursday, they beat the Lightning 19-6 and the Eastman Wildcats 13-1 on Friday.

They began Saturday with a 13-0 win over Central Energy, and then squeaked out a 7-6 victory in extra innings over the Interlake Phillies, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh for the win. Figol said most of her players had previously experienced the international rules for extra innings in which a runner starts at second base, but as a group they talked later about how fun it was.

“It would have stung to lose, but wasn’t that an exciting game to come from behind,” Figol said. “We said that just goes to show you the game isn’t over until it’s over.”

That left the Magic 30-0 against Manitoba opponents in the regular season and provincials, but also provided them with a couple of stern tests.

It also led them to the 1-vs.-2 game against the Lightning early Sunday morning.

“We woke up feeling really ready to go,” Figol said. “We went to diamonds as usual, we’re excited and brought energy. The first inning, we were home and we let six runs in right away. You could feel a little bit of deflation right away.”

While Figol and assistant coach Jaycee Small encouraged their group, they were also looking at the bigger picture. If the game stayed that way, they would have to win the semifinal and beat the Lightning again in the final, so there was potentially lots of ball left to play.

“It was tough for them,” Figol said. “It’s hard when you’re not used to that happening to us.”

They ended up falling 14-1, and faced the winner of the 3-vs.-4 game, the Eastman Wildcats in the semifinal. They apparently had some frustration to work out, because they emerged with an 11-1 mercy-rule victory.

“We regrouped and went into that game against Eastman and we played our hearts out,” Figol said. “It was like we knew who we were again. Heading into that second game, you would never know that first game happened.”

In the final, the Lightning took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, with the Magic responding with two runs in the top of the third inning. Winnipeg then played two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning that proved to be the difference in a 3-2 victory.

“It was back and forth and back and forth, which is what a softball game should look like,” Figol said. “We battled hard and we left runners on — I think we left more runners on than they did — so it could have gone either way.”

The Magic roster includes Brandonites Surie Small, Tenley Figol, Jaycee Hackywicz, Ellena Hermenegildo, Maci Watters, Ella Kyle, Brooke Collins and Taylor Larson, plus Kyree Hart, Ella Parrott, Hayley Fordyce of Boissevain and Emerson Anderson from the Rivers area.

“These are young girls and we’re trying to teach them the pressures of the game,” Figol said. “You never know what’s going to happen. We said ‘Welcome to softball.’ There is a reason why those girls were there, it’s because they can handle this game.

“… We know heading into westerns there are going to be good teams there and we have to learn to stay composed and stay patient through those ups and downs.”

The inaugural U13 western Canadian event was held in Brandon in 2024, with the Moose Jaw Ice defeating the Eastman Wildcats in the final. Last summer in Abbotsford, B.C., the Interlake Phillies beat Eastman to win gold.

With three Manitoba teams in the final in the last two years, the Magic could be next if they play well.

“I look at this team and I’ve never seen so much dirt, sweat, blood, tears,” Figol said. “They are gritty bunch and that’s why I’m so proud to be part of them.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com