It was an incredible season for the Altona Bisons, capping off the magical run with a U18 championship and coach Damon Thiessen still has a smile on his face.
"It's pretty cool," Thiessen says about being called a champion. "Just really happy for our guys. Last year around this time, we were coming off a rough showing at provincials. We had a really good regular season, a good league championship run, and in provincials, things didn't go as we hoped. We lost a lot of players that were graduating at the end of the year, and we were not sure we'd get back there. But, we were able to put together a really fantastic group of guys, talented ball players, and great teammates, guys who love to play the game. Just really happy for the guys that were able to get it done, it's an awesome feeling when we were able to come out on top there."
Looking back over the year, Thiessen says the character and makeup of this group stood out the most. "We just found ways to win ball games. Throughout the year, nothing really came easy for this group, we were hit with a lot of adversity throughout the year. Every win came with a challenge, and that experience really prepared us for the unpredictability that comes with games at provincials. You never really know what can happen, things can happen that you never saw during the year, but our guys had that resolve, nothing fazed them, they were confident in themselves they could get the job done. I never really felt even when we went down 3-0 early, there was never a change of confidence. They believed that they'd get the job done and that belief carried us through."
Heading into the tournament, Thiessen knew that if his team could do what they do best, they'd be successful. "Obviously, there were a couple of teams there that we knew quite well," he says with a chuckle. "Both Morden teams we played a couple of times throughout the year and we actually lost to one of those teams in the league championships. Finishing runner up there, I think left us wanting more heading into provincials, which is a good mindset to have. We wanted to prove that we were better than how we finished in the league championship. We stuck to our game plan, played the way we did all year, and I think the guys were confident. I felt that if we could get a good start to our round robin, our pool play, we'd be exactly where we wanted to be. We started off 3-0, and I think we discovered that we could really make a run at this thing, and we ended up doing exactly what we wanted to do on Sunday, and I couldn't ask for a better result."
As a coach, Thiessen details the differences coaching in the provincials vs the regular season, and says there's more planning that goes into a tournament like that. "It's really different, especially the pitch count. We need to make sure we have as many arms available as possible heading into Sunday. My assistant coach and I are always talking, he's a huge help, we're always plotting, trying to figure out the best lineup or pitchers in situations. Luckily, our pitching plan almost went perfectly according to plan, which doesn't really happen often, because these games have a different feel and you never know what's going to happen. Every play is so crucial because of the pitch count. You need all the defensive plays made because one error adds another at bat, which could lead to ten or fifteen more pitches, which really derails your pitching plan. Our defense was so solid behind our pitching and we got great performances from the pitchers. It's a different feel because every play is so important, but our guys were confident and they believed in themselves, proving it at the end by winning as a team."
Going down early in that final game, Thiessen says the mental toughness proved to be a huge reason for digging themselves out of that hole and coming alive as a group when they needed to most. "We played Morden Yellow in the final, a team that we had seen in the league final and a team that we played throughout the year. So, we knew they'd be a tough team to beat and going down 3-0 in the first inning is not how you draw it up, but again, the attitude of the guys never changed. You'd have thought it was 0-0 with how the guys were acting, talking to each other and building each other up. Super proud of these guys and I love this team, how they played and how they approach the game. Their resolve was special and I'm super proud and feel so lucky to have been the coach of this group."
Once the final out was made and the celebration was on, Thiessen made sure to stand back and soak in what the moment meant. "I watched the guys on the field, having been in that position as a player, while never winning a provincial championship, I know about those big wins and what it means. Especially for the guys from last year who were so close, to finish the job this year was huge. Also, the grade 10's getting to experience all of this, hopefully they all come back and bring this experience with them, contributing as leaders and understanding what it takes to win at this level at that time, as well."
At the end of the day, Thiessen says the community of people around the team truly made this season one to remember, and they couldn't be successful without that support. "First of all, I want to thank Rachel Geirnaert, she was the manager of the club this year, and she took care of all the behind the scenes stuff, she made Chad Martens and I's jobs so easy. The parents were super supportive all year, whether it was getting their kids to practice or getting them to games, but also with all the help when it came to hosting the league tournament, so there's a lot of work that goes into that, but they were supportive and helpful. Their work allows the players to focus on the games. Super grateful for the players and their parents, it was an awesome season and very thankful for all the people that made this a great year."