Hosting the U13 AAA provincials this past weekend, the Eastman Wildcats played exceptional ball, leading to finishing second, and punching their ticket to the Western's coming up in Abbotsford, British Columbia in August.
"It was a really good week of ball," coach Jason Plett explains. "We started on Thursday with our round robin play, and the whole tournament, our girls played the best ball they've played all season long. It was a lot of fun to watch."
Going back to the start of the tournament, Plett breaks down how the team did game-by-game. "First was an 11-0 win over Smitty's on Thursday, then followed that up with a 7-6 extra innings loss to the Interlake Phillies, who eventually won the gold medal. That was a game. That was quite the game. Lots of fans came out and they were treated to a really, really good U13 softball game. Friday, we went 2-0, an 8-6 win over Central, and a 8-0 win over Winnipeg Lightning. Saturday, we went 2-0 again, 9-0 win vs the Manitoba Angels, and an 8-1 win over the Westman Magic. It was a really good round robin for us."
Heading into playoff Sunday in second place, it allowed for a tough loss in the morning to not be overly costly, according to Plett. "Playoff Sunday, 1st place vs 2nd place, with the loser of that game playing the winner of the 3rd vs 4th game, 4th being eliminated, so essentially, the second game of the day was the bronze medal game. Win that game and you go to the gold medal game. That morning game, we had a bit of a tired crew, I guess. We were not quite awake, we lost 8-1 in the 1 vs 2 game to the Interlake Phillies. But, the girls rebounded, and we blasted the Westman Magic 9-2 in the bronze medal game. Then off to the final Sunday afternoon, and Interlake is just a really, really strong team, we gave everything we had, but Interlake came out on top 8-1 again."
The sheer amount of ball the U13 girls played over the course of a few days is nothing short of impressive, and for Plett, he believes it proves how tough mentally and physically this group is. "It was our message as we went further along in the tournament, we told them it's a grind for 12 and 13-year-old girls, some even still 11-years-old. To play nine games in four days, and just having to be on point for every single game, that is a grind. It was very important to keep the chatter up on the field, keep a good routine going to stay warmed up for a game. Being mentally prepared was so, so huge."
The U13 AAA Eastman Wildcats are not done yet, their special season will continue. "Getting second place at provincials, we've earned the right to be Manitoba 2 at the Western Canadian Softball Championships, in Abbotsford, BC," Plett says proudly. "Those go August 7th-10th. We're pretty excited for that trip, and we're excited to have our season extended by a few more weeks. The girls are really, really jacked to get that experience."
Being hosts of provincials, Plett says a lot of people worked very hard to make it so special for all the teams, players, coaches and fans that came out to enjoy the weekend. "It was amazing, Friedensfeld Community Club, they held the canteen for provincials, and the food was amazing. It was so busy all weekend long, and they did really well there. The parents from our team, I can't say enough about them. They stepped up so huge to help out in every which way. With the U17 and U19 provincials going on that same weekend, it took away from our Eastman board volunteers, and volunteers from the other teams. So, our parents had to step up, and they stepped up massive. Our manager, Jess Laluk, the organizing and patients she had all weekend, just fantastic, I can't say enough about her. All around, a great weekend. You can't pull off a weekend like that without excellent volunteers, and we certainly have that."
Jason Plett and the U13 AAA Eastman Wildcats will enjoy some well earned rest before getting back to work ahead of traveling to British Columbia in early August, looking to keep the magic going.