Sisters Mackenzie and Brooklyn Roach’s softball season started in the gym of Virden Collegiate in March and took them to the U18 Western Canadian Fastball Championships in Lloydminster this past week-end.
Both girls, who pitch, spent time pitching and hitting wiffle balls getting ready for the high school ball season. Mackenzie ( 16 ) a Grade 11 student and Brooklyn ( 14 ) a Grade 9 student played for the Virden Golden Bears High School team who competed in league and tournament play, placed 2nd in zone 9 play-offs in late May with both girls taking their turns on the mound.
Mackenzie then focused on playing with the U18-A Westman Magic, based out of Brandon, in the Manit o b a L a d i e s S u p e r Softball League where she pitched and played outfield.
Brooklyn, who wasn’t selected for the U16-A Magic, was already playing B-ball in Virden on a team where she was the only pitcher. That team won the south west girls softball league in mid June. The team was then re-rostered to form the U16B team that participated in Provincials in Winnipeg in early July where they won Silver.
During this time, Brooklyn was also double-rostered with the U18-A Magic team that Mackenzie played on as they had a shortage of players and pitchers. The girls were also “spares” for the Senior women’s team in Virden, both seeing playing time when bodies were short.
At Provincials, U18 Magic finished with a 1-2 record and failed to qualify for Westerns which had their season end. A few days later, Central Energy, a U18-A team based out of Portage and areas south called and asked both girls to join their team in Lloydminster. Central finished second in their pool and were eventually eliminated by Kelowna late Sunday night, finishing 4th out of 10 teams. Brooklyn pitched and played first base during their seven games while sister Mackenzie played second base and pitched. Mackenzie was also named “player of the game” against Kelowna.
Brooklyn still has some upcoming tryouts for the Regional 2016 Summer Games team while Mackenzie will now spend time preparing for her third season with the Westman Wildcats AAA hockey team.Sisters’ season of ball takes them to Lloydminster
