BRANDON — Dani Klassen knows her Winnipeg Lightning squad will have to elevate to a new level to compete at Softball Canada’s under-15 national championship in Brandon this week.
It will be the first Canadian event for the entire roster, but Klassen, who was a terrific player herself, has been to nationals about eight times. It’s her first trip as a head coach after she attended last summer as an assistant coach for the U17 Lightning team.
“It’s a complete new set of focus and energy and competition,” Klassen said. “It’s the little details that will make or break each game. At provincials or nationals, every single run counts so if you get a runner at third and try to get a bunt down and can’t get it down, that could be the difference between scoring that run and winning the game and losing it, and making playoffs or not making playoffs. “Every run matters and every little thing is super important.”
Winnipeg Lightning third baseman Leah Claussen (13), shown during Softball Manitoba’s recent under-15 AAA provincial championship at Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex unsuccessfully trying to tag out Westman Magic base runner Charlie Shearer (9), also pitches and swings a big bat for the Lightning.
The 24-team tournament is being played on the four diamonds at Brandon’s Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex. Winnipeg is joined in the Red Pool by Calgary Adrenaline Black, Prince Edward Island Whitecaps, British Columbia’s White Rock Renegades 08, Saskatchewan’s Lumsden Cubs and Ontario’s Guelph Gators.
Winnipeg opens against Guelph on Wednesday morning at 10:30 a.m. They take the field twice on Thursday, meeting P.E.I., at 8:30 a.m., and White Rock at 5 p.m.
They finish the round-robin on Friday against Lumsden at 10:30 a.m., and Calgary at 4:30 p.m.
The playoffs begin on Saturday, with a national champion crowned on Sunday in a game that starts at 3 p.m.
“They are so excited,” Klassen said of her players. “They are just beyond thrilled to be going to nationals, and especially to be Manitoba 1. They’re pretty pumped about that.”
They earned the top designation in an unlikely way.
In the regular season, the Lightning went 13-15 to finish fifth in the Manitoba Premier Softball League’s eight-team U15 AAA division. At provincials in Brandon from July 27 to 30, they went 5-2 in the round-robin and won both playoff games on Sunday, beating the Eastman Wildcats 8-1 in the final to earn the provincial title.
“I would say the thing that had the biggest impact on how they played was just their level of energy and hype that they brought to each game,” Klassen said. “It really got them into each game and we were able to get the most out of each of them and work together as a team.”
The provincial champs have leaned on all three legs of the softball stool at different times, but Klassen said one really stands out.
Winnipeg Lightning base runner Karsyn Wilkes (11) scores on a wild pitch as Westman Magic pitcher Brynna Andrew waits for the ball during Softball Manitoba’s recent under-15 AAA provincial championship at Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex. The Lightning finished fifth in the regular season but won the provincial title.
“I would say pitching for sure is one of our strengths,” Klassen said. “We have quite a large pitching staff and two major-age pitchers who are quite strong. They’ve been fairly dominant so far this year and really did a lot at provincials as well.”
Linnae Johnson and Sierra Slatcher head up the staff, with Madison Rach, Leah Claussen and Olivia Kondratuk also eating up innings. Klassen even has the luxury of two position players who can throw, although it doesn’t happen often.
At the plate, Klassen said the team has a lot of ways to score runs.
“We’re definitely more small ball than long-ball hitters,” Klassen said. “We have a couple of power hitters, a couple of slappers and a couple lefties who are more contact hitters and bunters. “One thing I feel my team does really well is pair everything together really nicely. We’ll have a couple of contact hitters, bunters, slappers in a row to try to get on base and then hopefully time it out right so that our power hitters can come up and drive them home.”
Johnson, Slatcher and Claussen swing the big bats for the Lightning.
Defensively, like most teams that age, they have their good days and their bad days. But Klassen said their good days can be very good.
“When we’re on and the girls are focused and in their game and hyped up, they have played phenomenal defence this year,” Klassen said. “We’ve had at least 20 diving catches and other really nice plays or really smart plays. When they are on, they are very on.”
Winnipeg is a young squad, with four majors in their second year in the age group and eight minors. Ten players are from Winnipeg, with Slatcher and Abigail Minnie joining the club from Stonewall.
They’ll be one of four Manitoba teams in action since the national championship is in Manitoba. The Lightning will be joined by the host Westman Magic, Eastman and Central Energy.
Winnipeg Lightning pitcher Leah Claussen (13) is one of her team’s five main chuckers and also hits well. She is shown during Softball Manitoba’s recent under-15 AAA provincial championship at Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex.
All four clubs will be in tough against the traditional softball powerhouses such as Ontario and British Columbia, who have won all but one of the U15 championships since 2000. The sole exception came in 2014 when the Smitty’s Terminators from Winnipeg captured the national title in Surrey, B.C.
As a result, Klassen is realistic about what her club, which is 32-23-2 overall this season, should expect this week. “We know that when we play our best, we’re a strong, competitive team,” Klassen said. “At the same time, B.C. and Ontario are always super dominant at nationals. Our goals are definitely to make top 10 out of the 24 teams. “I think if we made anywhere in the top 10 or top eight — top five would be amazing — but anywhere in there is our goal.”
Twitter: @PerryBergson
