This past weekend, the U18 South Central hardball team took home a third-place finish at the 2024 U18 AAA Tier 1 Provincials in Winnipeg.
The U18 South Central ball club consists of the following players: Alex Wieler, Teemu Peters, Maksim Fehr, Koen Bleznuk, Brayden Fehr, Graham Thiessen, Tyler Fehr, Ryan Peters, Haiden Friesen, Josh Dyck, Logan Lesser, Ty Magarrell, Hudson Nikkel, Jackson Friesen, and Jaren Hildebrand.
Going into the provincials, South Central was one of the hottest teams in the province, accumulating a 14-2-1 record in league play in the Manitoba U18 AAA League.
“This season, we won a lot more than we lost,” said South Central head coach Bobby Matuszewski. As a team, all the guys wanted to get better and put so much work in, and all of them developed a ton. We had lots of guys work on their own to get better, and as a group, we had good kids. They were a super fun group to coach.”
At the Provincials, South Central got off to a hot start in the round-robin with convincing wins over Elmwood (3-1), North Winnipeg (11-1), and Brandon (11-4). However, they slowly fizzled down the stretch and lost to Winnipeg South (4-2) and Carillon (7-2) to end the round-robin with a 3-2 record.
When the dust settled, South Central found themselves outside looking in, as only the top two teams in the round robin advanced to the finals. Their provincials ended with a third-place finish.
Coach Matuszewski notes that his club pitched very well this weekend, but its bats weren’t as good as they could have been, which ended up being the theme in both losses.
“I’m proud of the overall season, but as a team, we had very specific goals, which was to win, so I know that at least right now, the boys don’t look at a third-place finish as something to be proud of. They worked super hard, were driven, and had one goal. Hopefully, they can look back at this team as one to be proud of once it’s further out because the other coaches and I certainly enjoyed the season with them.”
South Central had four graduating players this year. Brayden Fehr is one and has committed to play college baseball in the United States next year.
“We hope the rest of the guys are back next year for another run at it,” said Matuszewski. “It would be great to meet our goal and win a Provincials.”
