The Westman Storm recently took home the gold medal in the under 13 girls AA softball provincials in Brandon Aug. 13th and 14th.
This was the inaugural year of AA girls’ softball in the province. One of seven regional teams, the Storm’s season kicked into gear after the completion of the house league season in mid-July. Head coach Chris Masson indicated that “being a new program, there were some unknowns. But it was a successful year and the program generated a lot of interest. It enabled the girls to develop by playing at a higher level.”
Prior to the provincial tournament the team had a very successful year going 13-1. This included winning gold and silver in two show case tournaments.
The Storm consisted of very strong local representation with five Virden area girls: Callie Stuart, Kaiya Walton, Mckenzie Masson, Molly Studer and Skylar Higginbotham. There were also six girls from the Wawanesa area and one player from Deloraine.
Provincial weekend kicked off on with a win against the Eastman Blaze 10-9. Next up was a tough battle against the Interlake Phillies. Masson said, “We were tied at the end of regulation time and ended up losing in two extra innings 14-13. Although we lost, the game ended up being a good reset and we never looked back.” In the final game of the day the Storm, bounced back to beat the Central Energy 14-7.
On Sunday, rounding out round robin play, the Storm convincingly defeated the Manitoba Reapers 12-4 finishing with a 3-1 record.
In the semi-final game the Storm played the Westman Fury. “This was a very close, back and forth battle the entire game. We were tied heading into our last at bat and ended up with a walk off victory,” said coach Masson. The final score was 11-10 in favor of the Storm.
This blew the Storm into the final with a rematch against the Central Energy where the Storm prevailed, playing a sound game and winning the gold medal 14-7.
When asked about what separated this team from the others Masson stated, “The team was well balanced. Our batters made it uncomfortable for the opposing pitcher and did a great job putting the ball in play. We played good defense and had strong pitchers who could throw strikes. This was a very special team with not only a lot of skill, but character… a no-quit attitude, that never got down.”
Masson says, “There’s a great amount of softball talent in this corner of the province. It’s great to see a rural team not only compete but come out on top.”
