The Garden Valley Collegiate Zodiacs will represent Zone 4 in Stonewall starting on Thursday and pitcher Jackson Friesen believes his club is ready to bring a provincial banner home to Winkler.
"I'm very confident with the team that we have," the flame-thrower says proudly. "Our coach Darren Crane said from the beginning of the year that we had a vey solid team and he had so much confidence for us to succeed at provincials. Last year we made it to the finals with the team that we had and we lost a few key players, but this year, a number of younger players have come up clutch. Everyone is doing their job perfectly. Whenever we're hitting, you can trust anyone up to get the job done."
A big part of the Zodiacs success this season has started with the pitchers and for Friesen, he recalls always wanting to be the guy on the mound. "I started my baseball career when I was super young and I've always loved pitching. I love controlling the game and the outcome to a certain extent. For this team, we have a lot of great pitchers who can just walk on the mound and just dice. We have three grade 12's, myself, Hayden Friesen and Ryan Peters, we all pitched in the Zone and we needed only three to pitch the whole tournament. I feel like our pitching is very solid. I used to be a relief pitcher or closer because I could just come in and get the job done, get the inning closed and just win the game for the boys."
Starting as a closer, Friesen says it took a lot of work to get his arm in a position where he could throw multiple innings as a starter. "It took a bit of work because the arm going a longer distance, you need to strengthen it. That takes time. I needed the mental toughness to know I need to go the distance, even if something doesn't feel right, you need to battle through."
On top of being a go-to guy on the mound, Friesen has embraced the leadership role off the field as well, something he believes will help the group get over the hump at provincials. "From the beginning of the season, I made it a goal to make everyone feel included. Not seniors hanging out with seniors and freshman with freshman, I made sure everyone felt welcome. We went on a trip to Minneapolis this spring and I had such a great time getting to know the younger players and becoming brothers with the whole team. It was special to see everyone getting along out there and I'm excited for this weekend, it's going to be an awesome experience and we're going to have some fun playing ball."
Coming out of Zone 4 is no easy task, it's a grind against some talented teams and Friesen highlighted some areas where he feels his team is going to lean on to be successful this weekend. "I think we have so much depth on this team. Anyone can be put anywhere and get the job done. Our defense if very solid, all nine defenders, if the ball gets to them, I feel that anyone can make a play."
The ultimate goal is to win and that's something Friesen is determined to do for his team, his family and his community. "Man, it would be so fantastic. I'd be so happy to bring a provincial banner back. We were so close last year and I feel like we can just put our foot down, battle as hard as we can and we'll bring that banner home with us to Winkler."
The Zodiac's first game is on Thursday in Stonewall and they'll follow that up with two games on Friday. Playoffs are set for Saturday.