Wildcats strike gold in postponed provincials

One week after they were supposed to be finished, the Eastman Wildcats came out on top at the U17 and U19 provincial softball championships in Stonewall.

The Wildcats U17 team defeated the Winnipeg Lightning 4-1 in the final July 26, led by a 10 strikeout complete game from starting pitcher Kelsey Warkentine. Warkentine didn’t walk a batter in the final, giving up one run on seven hits.

Both the U17 and U19 provincial championships had to be halted due to poor air quality last week.

Eastman advanced to the final by defeating the Lightning 3-2 in a page playoff game after finishing the round robin with a perfect record. Warkentine got the start in both the final and the page playoff, dominating both en route to being named the tournament’s most valuable player.

She dominating on the mound each time she pitched. Warkentine threw a complete game each time she was called on to start a game, surrendering only a single earned run in those five games, all Eastman victories. She finished with 61 strikeouts, adding on two relief appearances.

Her strongest outing may have come in the page playoff, the lone game she started and conceded an earned run. With 21 outs needed to win a game, Warkentine accounted for two-thirds of them on her own, as she struck out 14 batters in a 3-2 victory.

The U17 team will be representing Manitoba at the national championships, which will be held in Warman, Sask. this year. Nationals began on a good note, with the Wildcats picking up a 12-2 opening round win over a team from Saskatchewan July 30.

Eastman didn’t officially field a 19U team this season, as players from the region joined up with the Westman Magic to dominate the age group, going undefeated this season.

The team, dubbed the “Magic Cats,” could only bring nine players to the re-scheduled provincial finals, but that didn’t stop them, defeating the Central Energy 9-0 in the page playoff and 8-1 in the finals. Oakbank’s Emma Franklin was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, as the pitcher hurled a combined eight innings of shutout ball in the playoffs, only surrendering two hits in the page playoff game.

While there will be no nationals appearance for the U19 Magic Cats, the roster will still be busy in August, as nine of the team’s 10 rostered players were named to Team Manitoba’s Canada Games softball roster. The Summer Games commitments created too big of a scheduling conflict for the team to play at either westerns or nationals.

The postponing of provincial championships continued this weekend as well, as the 15U championships were halted after a downpour of rain caused the fields at Ray Fennel Park in Winnipeg to become unplayable.

The semi-final needed to be halted, with the finals re-scheduled for July 30 after press time in Winkler. The Wildcats are waiting in the final to play the winner of the semi-final between Central and Interlake. The team has already locked up a spot at nationals, which will be hosted in Winkler this year.