A strong season for the U19 Killarney Lakers was capped off by claiming provincial bronze, something that coach Keith McIntyre says it was a great way to wrap up the year.
"It feels great," McIntyre says proudly. "The girls worked really, really hard all year. They maybe didn't get gold or silver, but it's always nice to come home with a medal."
Looking back to the start of the year, McIntyre says the makeup of the group had a special aura right away. "The team is based out of Killarney, but we have girls from Wawanesa, Boissevain and Killarney. We're a U19 team, but we had a lot of girls that could have played U17 this year, so it was a broad spectrum of girls. Myself, Scott Elder and Megan Klassen took on the duties to coach this year, with Pam Skeoch being our manager. We had limited expectations this year going in, because the girls didn't know each other. But, once we saw their abilities, we knew we'd do well. We played out of the South West Girls Softball League, we went 7-3 and finished second in the league. We played in the league tournament, and unfortunately, we just lost out in the finals, so we finished second in the league tournament, as well."
A very impressive season and McIntyre says watching the team really bond, come together and play for one another, that is what made this group so special. "It's awesome," he says beaming. "The girls, they started off a little slow, a little quiet kind of thing, but once we got going, they had everyone's back. All year, whenever times got tough, they dug down and would perform well."
Bronze at provincials is a huge accomplishment and McIntyre says the team showed their heart and resolve, finding a way to win that final game to bring home a medal. "Well, it was a fun game. We played Hamiota, they're in our league and we played them constantly. Personally, I know them very well, and it was great to see two teams out of our league fighting for a medal. We started off fairly strong, got a couple runs right off the bat and just rolled with it. Pretty much a total team effort. We had three girls throw for us McCanna Wiesner, Kenzie McIntyre, and Emry Cassan from Deloraine, we picked up a few kids from there, and we put together some big hits and came away with a 9-3 win."
Knowing this might be the last time this group is on the ball field together, McIntyre made sure to soak in just how special the celebration was. "It was pretty emotional for me, again, my daughter is 18 and seeing them all come together, it was a very proud moment."
Perhaps the most important part of the victory, was what McIntyre agreed to do had the girls won. "Unfortunately, I did promise the girls a cartwheel after the game, so I had to do that at the awards ceremony."
How did he do? "I would say 7/10" the coach says with a laugh. "I didn't really practice, either."
Looking down the road, McIntyre isn't sure what the program will look like going forward, making those winning moments for this group in particular even sweeter. "I think they'll be fairly strong in the next upcoming years. Unfortunately, we'll see where everyone goes. With Wawanesa having some girls move up in age brackets, hopefully we'll have enough (players) to form a team in this town. Ball is strong in this area. We have a couple strong U15 teams, as well. The future is bright for Killarney softball."
On top of it all, McIntyre says the community of people around the team made this year extra special. "Provincials itself was awesome. We had so many fans come to watch that didn't have any connection to our team, other than just being fans of fastball and of Killarney. Parents were awesome. Pretty great support all around."
Team Photo:
Back Row Left to Right: Keith McIntyre, McCanna Wiesner, Addi Crepeele, Reese Klassen, Callie Despiegelaere, Emry Cassan, Emma Brown, Meaghan Klassen and Scott Elder
Front Row Left to Right: Kenzie McIntyre, Ashlyn Elder, Emery Kozak, Harley Chrisp, Shelby Canada, Meagan Glover