4 days ago
Co-op team claims top prize at softball provincials
STONEWALL — La Broquerie's École Saint-Joachim and St Pierre-Jolys' École communautaire Réal-Bérard are a pair of small French schools from Manitoba's southeast, but they certainly pack a punch when it comes to fastpitch.
The two schools' co-op team blasted through the rest of the competition at the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association softball championships, hosted at Stonewall Quarry Park on Friday and Saturday. An 11-3 mercy rule victory over AAAA school Vincent Massey (Brandon) Vikings capped off an undefeated season for the Braves.
'We're talking about maybe 250 students,' head coach Pat Tetrault said after the game. 'We don't make for quantity we make for quality… There's some tough schools, some good teams out here.'
Cassidy Dankochik / THE CARILLON
The École Saint-Joachim and Réal-Bérard Braves celebrate their Manitoba High Schools Athletics Association title, capping off their undefeated season on Saturday with a dominant win over Vincent Massey (Brandon).
École Saint-Joachim and Réal-
Bérard took control of the final early, plating eight runs in the first inning after a Massey home run scored two in the top half of the inning. Brynn Maynard's double scored three, turning a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 advantage which never looked in danger of evaporating.
Annabelle Tetrault pitched all five innings of the game for the Braves, before being named the tournament's most valuable player. She gave up six hits and finished with three strikeouts, including two in the first inning after surrendering the home run and one for the final out of the game.
'It's amazing, because I don't think we had to say much. When the ball went over the fence in the first inning, for some reason the team didn't panic,' coach Tetrault said. '(If) we got out of that inning and back on the sticks, we were confident we could get back into this game… next thing you know, we're up six, seven runs and cruising to victory.'
École Saint-Joachim have only won a single MHSAA banner in their history, the 2000-01 girls' golf championship.
'For the small schools to not only compete but somewhat dominate and win is somewhat unbelievable,' Tetrault said.
Cassidy Dankochik / THE CARILLON
Chloe Carriere's opening bunt single in the bottom of the first inning set up École Saint-Joachim and Réal-Bérard for a eight-run inning, more than erasing a top half home run from Vincent Massey (Brandon) in the finals Saturday.
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Their one near hiccup came in the first inning of their quarterfinal game early in the morning Saturday, as the team surrendered four runs in the top of the first to Prairie Mountain. Saint-Joachim responded with 10 runs of their own in their first three innings, eventually winning 10-8.
That offensive outburst over the season was powered by a deep hitting lineup. Every player on the team was a threat at the plate, no matter what their spot in the batting order was, with all players reaching base at least once in the final.
'They showed up every day wanting to hit, believing in themselves and their buddies,' Tetrault said. 'Everybody that went up to the plate knew if they just tried and concentrated and just swung… they would be successful.'
In other provincial high school championship action across the province, the Garden City Gophers took down Steinbach Regional 13-1 in the baseball finals, which were also hosted in Stonewall.
— The Carillon
Cassidy Dankochik / THE CARILLON
Lincoln Carriere pitched a complete game for Garden City to give the school their fourth provincial baseball championship win in the last five years Saturday over the Steinbach Regional hitters.
