U15 Magic win silver at westerns

The under-15 Westman Magic got a taste of glory at the Western Canadian Championships last weekend, returning home with silver medals after a narrow loss to the Red Deer Rage in the final.

“It was a fun weekend. I had a blast,” said Brooke Hartman, who plays pitcher and third base for the Magic. “Our team played really well as a whole, and we fell short, but it was a lot of fun.”

Winning a silver medal at westerns is the culmination of an entire season of work. During the regular season, the Magic were middle of the pack with a 4-6 record in 10 games played. The coaches and players knew there was a lot of work to do to get the team where it needed to be.

“The big thing was coming together as a group,” said head coach Marc Lyver. “We had a lot of new girls to our program this year, and it took a while for everybody to come together as a team. Once everybody bought in, our team started running on all cylinders.”

Lyver and his staff took a team approach. With 12 players and three coaches, they talked about having 15 contributors who all did different roles.

PROVINCIALS

By the time they reached provincials, the Magic had found their groove. They went 4-1 in the round-robin, beating the Winnipeg Lightning, Interlake Phillies, Smitty’s Terminators and Central Energy before losing to the Eastman Wildcats.

They qualified for the two-vs-one game where they once again lost 6-1 at the hands of Eastman. In the semifinal, the Magic went up against the Interlake Phillies in what was an intense game.

At the end of regulation, the two teams were tied 7-7. Both teams managed to score a single run in the eighth inning to bring the score to 8-8. In the ninth inning, the Magic blinked and lost the staredown. Interlake scored six runs, and Westman couldn’t find a response.

What provincials proved is that the Magic had room to grow before the end of the season.

WESTERNS

Westerns proved the Magic learned from their experience at provincials. They came out of the gate blazing with a 12-2 win over Central Vancouver Island and a commanding 9-1 win over Ridge Meadows Pride, to go 2-0 after the opening day.

Averaging 10.5 runs for while allowing just 1.5 is phenomenal at any level. The Magic had set the table for another deep run.

“Our pitchers did a really good job, and our defence played solid behind their back,” said Hartman. “Our bats were good for us. We’ve always been a strong hitting team.”

Next, they faced their first challenge of the round-robin in the form of the Red Deer Rage. With just four hits in the contest, the Magic lost 7-0.

The loss proved to be an anomaly. The Magic finished Saturday with a 9-7 win over Calgary Kaizen. It was a full team effort in which Hartman had two hits, scored two runs and registered one RBI. Hayley Barkley also had a strong game, contributing three hits and two runs.

On Saturday, the Magic won their remaining two games, a 20-4 victory over White Butte Storm and a 5-1 triumph over Central Energy. With a 5-1 record at the end of the round-robin, the Magic once again qualified for the two-vs-one game.

“We ended up exactly where we wanted to be in the one-vs-two game on Sunday to give ourselves double elimination life,” said Lyver.

On Sunday, the Magic struggled back and forth with the Red Deer Rage. Hartman shone in the contest, hitting a solo home run to centre field in the first inning.

“We already had two outs and this pitcher was a really strong pitcher,” said Hartman about the home run. “I felt really supported by my team. It was awesome. Definitely a highlight.”

Hartman’s home run gave the team a 1-0 lead. Red Deer came back at the bottom of the inning, scoring twice to take the lead. The score didn’t change until the sixth inning, when the Magic plated two runs to go up 3-2. In the seventh, the Magic scored again to make it 4-2 before blanking Red Deer in the bottom of the inning to seal the win and a spot in the gold-medal match.

Hartman ended the game with three hits, two runs and an RBI. Jessa Church also had a strong game, getting two hits, one run and two RBI.

“I was super excited,” said Logan Rome about making it to the final. “I really wanted to win. It was a really exciting day. I think our whole team was pretty excited.”

In the final, they once again had to take on the Rage, who clawed their way to the finals after winning the semifinal match 7-1 over the Moose Jaw Ice.

“Everyone was super happy we were there, and everyone was pumped,” said Hartman. “We were going for the medal and giving it our all.”

Red Deer took the lead early, scoring three runs in the first inning. In the second, Westman scored its first run of the contest to make it 4-1.

The Magic continued to chip away at Red Deer’s lead, making the score 5-3 by the end of the fifth inning.

Ultimately, they couldn’t finish the comeback. Both teams scored two runs in the seventh, and the game ended 7-5 in favour of Red Deer.

“They (Red Deer) ended up playing three games in a row,” said Lyver. “That’s what kept them rolling was continuing to play, whereas we sat for three hours and that might have played a little bit into it.”

Though the Magic did not come out with a gold medal, they are very proud to have brought silver home to western Manitoba.

“Gold would have been awesome, but we worked hard all year for it, and I’m really proud of how we placed,” said Hartman.

Just like that, the softball season came to a close for the under-15 Westman squad.

“It really is sad,” said Lyver. “You just grow with the team. It just seemed like at the beginning of the year it was a goal of ours to bring everybody together and make sure we are building towards our goals of winning provincials, winning a Canadian or western … It just seems like when that moment comes it’s all done, seasons over.”

That said, tryouts for next year’s team are just around the corner. The majority of the under-15 group will be competing for sports on the under-17 Westman team. While it will be tough to make the team as minors, Lyver believes that based on their development this season they have a shot.

Many of the girls like Hartman, will be starting high school in the fall which will be a different kind of challenge. While she says she’s a bit nervous she is excited to get a chance to play high school sports next year.

“It was a great group of girls,” said Hartman. “I’m really thankful for all the volunteers, coaches and teammates who made the season a memorable one.”

»rmccarthy@brandonsun.com