The Winkler Force and Winkler Renegades won gold at Softball Manitoba Provincial championships this past weekend.

The Force reeled off seven straight wins and captured the Provincial U19 A championship at their home diamonds in Winkler this past weekend.

“Watching this team win gold was bittersweet,” noted Force coach Phil Dyck. “The girls have played together for a long time and now for half of the girls, it’s their last year, but it’s a great way to go out! This is a phenomenal group of gals. They played for each other and I’m so proud of them.”

In the round robin, the Force defeated the Roblin Angels 9-2; beat the Portage Diamonds 5-2; downed Hamiota Red Sox #2 6-2; beat Bonivital Flash 10-2 and North East Storm Navy 10-4.

Winkler blanked the Virden Gold Rush 7-0 in the semifinals and downed Hamiota Red Sox #2 8-1 in the gold medal game.

“Our girls played their hearts out in that gold medal game,” Dyck said. “Hamiota is a tough team, and we knew we better play our best game of the weekend! Our girls were defensively tight and just solid all around. We had great pitching, timely hits great base running and a three-run home run which definitely sealed the deal.”

“To win it all at home was great,” added the Force coach. “The stands were full, and the fans were loud. The girls loved playing in front of their friends and family. They worked all weekend and went undefeated. What a way to finish.”

 

The Renegades also went undefeated in capturing the U15 A championship at A.D. Penner Park in Steinbach.

“I remember just the sense of, ‘we did it.’ but also, ‘I can’t believe we’re done,” texted Winkler coach Maddy Rempel. “This was my first year being head coach, so I felt a lot of pressure to live up to the expectations set by the other Winkler age groups, as U11 & U13 had already won gold. I was lucky that I was coaching such a talented and dedicated group of girls who made my job so much easier. I was just so proud of the girls, but also so sad that it was over. Me and my assistant coaches Reagan Doell and Ashley Friesen, all got very attached to this group, and we just had the best time coaching them. They all had great energy, and were very supportive of one another, and just made it such a fun weekend.”

Winkler downed Guild Insurance Brokers 14-1; Northeast Storm Navy 10-1; Bonivital Flash White 7-0 and Bonivital Flash Blue 12-2 in the round robin.

The Force defeated Portage 13-1 in the round of 16; blanked the Springfield Heat 9-0 in the quarterfinals; downed the Wawanesa Wild 5-1 in the semifinals and capped the weekend off with a 6-3 victory over Morden in the gold medal game.

“The gold medal game was our closest match up of the tournament, so I would say it was definitely more nerve-wracking,” noted Rempel. “The girls were playing very well, our pitchers, Brielle Thiessen and Sam Wiebe both did excellent jobs. Sam also hit a home run in the second inning, bringing in our second run. That was the best hit I had seen all weekend, and a big turning point in the game. Morden was also making a lot of connection at the plate, and all of our fielders did a great job backing up the pitcher and getting those outs. Cara Klassen had a big play from behind the plate throwing a runner out who was trying to steal two, with Kendall Martens laying down the tag in the first inning.”

“The girls are very good at celebrating every small victory, so the entire weekend was filled with excitement and big plays, from huge catches in the outfield by Bella Rempel and Olivia Driedger, to an exciting tag out during a rundown between our catcher Cara and Cadence on third, something we had practiced extensively. Brielle Thiessen and Lenaya Roberts also had impressive home runs at key moments during the weekend, which aided in the momentum, as well as very aggressive base running from all the girls. While it may have been the last game that won it all for us, the whole tournament was filled with exciting moments that brought us there and gave us the drive to keep pushing until the last moment.”

As for celebrating their gold medal winning performance after the final out was recorded.

“To be honest, I’m not sure they even realized that out was their last one,” remarked coach Rempel. “They got the hint after us coaches started running out of the dugout screaming, we did it. There was a lot of surprise on their faces, since I think, they were expecting to go up for another at bat. The last out was a strike out by Brielle, which was all we needed to shut them down and finish the game as we were up 6-3 in the last inning.”

“It was a long and exhausting weekend for everyone, especially that last day as we played four games in total, so it was definitely a relief to be done and take home the gold. Definitely made all the early mornings worth it. It was a little bittersweet however, knowing that we wouldn’t be playing together anymore, and I know all of us coaches are already missing it. Overall, it was just such a successful season, going undefeated in our group in regular season, as well as with the provincial team in both tournaments in Steinbach, but more than anything it was just a lot of fun, and I’m really going to miss it.”

Winkler softball teams captured an impressive four provincial championship plaques this season.

The Panthers won the U11 A championship on the June 23rd, 24th & 25th weekend and the Storm won gold at the U13 A championship on the July 7th, 8th & 9th weekend.

 

softball_2023Winkler Renegades U15 A Provincial champions
Front Row: Brielle Thiessen, Lenaya Roberts, Cara Klassen & Olivia Driedger
Back Row: coach Maddy Rempel, Cadence Martens, Bella Rempel, Kendall Martens, Sam Wiebe, Ashley Braun, coach Ashley Friesen & coach Reagan Doell