The U17 Central Energy team is excited to head to the Nationals after recently winning the 2024 Manitoba Premier Softball League AAA Provincial Championship, rising above six teams to win the gold medal.
The Central Energy team is made up of the following players: Maddy Friesen (Altona), Gabrielle Hildebrand (Morden), Kara Buhler (Winkler), Nelia Fehr (Morden), Emma Klassen (Reinfeld), Heidi Reimer (RM of Stanley), Tori Mangin (Somerset), Brooklyn Friesen (RM of Stanley), Molly Conrad (Swan Lake), Karli Toews (RM of Stanley), Hailey-Jo Guffei (La Salle), Molly Cowan (Morden), Christina Van De Velde (Somerset).
Central Energy swept all six round-robin games at provincials, earning the top seed for the playoffs. After dropping their first playoff game, Central Energy bounced back and defeated the Winnipeg Lightning 10-0 in the semifinals to clinch a national berth. Central Energy emerged victorious in the provincial finals with a 4-1 win over the Eastman Wildcats.
“Karli Toews pitched the gold medal game, which is kind of a Cinderella story,” said team manager Bobbi-Jo Guffei, “as she has been overlooked for her talents in the past, and Coach Cam believed in her and saw something that others have not.”
Central Energy’s pitching was dominant throughout the provincials, amassing 60 strikeouts in total from the star pitching of Molly Cowan, Nelia Fehr and Karli Toews. Their batting was also remarkable, with the team hitting 14 home runs. Madeline Friesen and Brooklyn Friesen each hit five, Kara Buhler added two, and Molly Conrad and Christina Van De Velde contributed one. Brooklyn Friesen also received the Golden Glove Award for her stellar defensive performance throughout the provincials.
The team is led by Cam Zacharias of La Salle, a non-parent coach. This is Zacharias’ first year coaching AAA fastball after several years of coaching and playing a variety of high-level sports, including volleyball, powerlifting, hockey, and baseball.
“Cam did a great job with these girls and placed the players where he saw and believed the team would benefit the most from, with no biases,” said Guffei.
Central Energy pulled through despite losing Emma Klassen to a torn ACL in game two of provincials.
“It really breaks my heart because she has tried for many years to make the AAA team, and for whatever reason, she didn’t make the cut. This year, as a major age U17 player, she got her chance. She was the happiest kid, working harder than anyone to prove she had to be there, while just being happy to be there,” said Guffei.
During the team’s second game, Klassen got caught in a run-down, fell, heard a pop, and was tagged out. Klassen got up and came to the bench and said the pain was subsiding, but went to the therapy tent for their opinion to find out they suspected a torn ACL.
The Pan Am Clinic the next day confirmed the torn ACL diagnosis, which meant her season would be ending prematurely. Despite the injury, Klassen will still be at Nationals to support her team as long as her upcoming surgery isn’t scheduled during that time.
Central Energy earned the MB1 spot with the provincials victory and will represent Manitoba at the U17 AAA Canadian National Softball Championship in Calgary, Alberta, from July 31 to Aug. 4.
“It’s not just a game to these kids. It’s their entire childhood, and things get very real when they get closer to the end of it. They try out in September, practice and bond from January to April, play their season intensely from May to August and then repeat the tryouts in September. For many years, this has been ten months of every year for them,” said Guffei.
A trio of Central Energy’s bright stars, Brooklyn Friesen, Hailey-Jo Guffei, and Neila Fehr, also shared their thoughts and experiences of playing softball at a high level for their local team.
Brooklyn Friesen – RM of Stanley
Friesen has been playing softball for 10 years now, and this is her sixth season playing with Central Energy. She first got into softball when her mom had signed her up for town ball and she enjoyed it right from the start, so she continued to play every year since then.
“I went to try out for Central Energy as a U12 minor, not really knowing what to expect, but I made the team and loved it, and I have played with Central Energy every year since then. I have really enjoyed playing for Central Energy as I think we have a great organization with a bunch of great girls.”
Friesen and the other girls are all very proud of this current season. They had a great season, finishing with an 11-5-1 record after the regular season.
“We have a great team, all the girls are encouraging, supportive and really positive of one another which makes playing together a lot more fun. It was really exciting to win provincials, too. We all knew it was going to be a tough game in the finals, but we knew we could do it if we put our minds to it and fought hard. It was a tough game, but our pitching was amazing, the defence was on point, and we strung a few hits together to get the runs we needed to come out on top and bring home the gold.”
Friesen is now excited at the prospect of playing in the upcoming national championships in Calgary.
“Our goal as a team would be to finish in the top 10 in the country, and we believe that we can do that, seeing we have a very strong team, but mainly the goal is to go out there and have fun.”
Friesen’s goals for the future with softball are to go to college, continue to play there, and eventually come back and coach, giving back to the community that started her love for softball.
Hailey-Jo Guffei – La Salle
Guffei started playing t-ball when she was four years old.
“I got into it because watching my mom play fastball looked fun and a little bit wild,” said Guffei. “Central Energy is my home region, but I played for the Winnipeg Lightning in my first competitive year and then moved to Central Energy five years ago to try out for my home team, and I’ve had a really great experience with this organization. We have a large collection of purple clothes now.”
Guffei has had a solid season and says it has been very exciting and enjoyable.
“The coaches and my teammates have made it an incredible and supportive experience. This is a team that I will never forget. It’s been very exciting, and we’re so happy to be going to nationals. Our goal for this tournament is to finish in the top ten teams there.”
Guffei’s goals for the future in this sport is to play for a college team in the future, so that she can continue on with her education while playing the sport she loves.
Nelia Fehr – Morden
Fehr started playing Timbits baseball, and when she reached the U10 age, there was a girl’s team, so she switched to softball. She has been playing with Central Energy for seven years.
“I always really enjoyed sports, and softball was the one that I enjoyed the most, so I kept on playing,” said Fehr. “When I was 11, my friends told me about this AAA softball team called Central Energy, and I asked if I would go try out with them. I didn’t really know what it was, but I was excited because I loved softball and wanted to play more. Once I made the team, I knew I could never go back as our team is so close-knit, and the environment is like no other.”
“I love how we all support each other no matter the outcome of the games and all the amazing friendships I have made through playing softball. Central Energy has given me the opportunity to travel all over and play the game I love, surrounded by my closest friends. It was a new level of intensity that I had never experienced before, and I have truly improved my skills because of the high competition.”
Fehr’s been pitching very well all season long and notes that this has been one of the best summers to date on the field.
“Our goals at the start of the season were to go to nationals and win provincials, and we accomplished both. We travel quite a bit during the season to different tournaments and everywhere we go we compete. We are a very strong team and when we work together, we have a lot of success.”
Fehr says that winning the recent provincials was the highlight of her softball career.
“I have spent seven years playing with Central Energy and not once have we won a gold medal in provincials. This had been my goal since my first year playing, and I was definitely teary-eyed when we won. It just shows you how hard work pays off and that when you work as a team, anything is possible.”
Fehr said the national level competition is strong, and if the girls put 100% effort into every game, she will be happy no matter the outcome.
Fehr’s future goals for softball would be to go to college to play softball and to develop her skills even more.
“I would love to coach a Central Energy team one day and teach the next age of ball players the game that I love.”
