The U15 AAA Interlake Phillies will have to put their celebrations on hold—at least for now.
On Sunday, the Phillies upset the Westman Magic 9–4 in the third vs. fourth place game at the 2025 Softball Manitoba Provincial Championships, held at Ray Fennel Park in Winnipeg. The win not only earned them a provincial medal but also a berth at the 2025 U15 Female Canadian Championships in August.
The victory advanced the Phillies to the second vs. third place game, with a spot in the provincial final on the line. But heavy rain brought the tournament to a halt midway through that matchup between the Phillies and Central Energy.
With weather refusing to let up, officials postponed the remainder of provincials, which are now scheduled to resume Wednesday in Winkler.
In the meantime, the Phillies are shelving their national hopes as they set their sights on a potential provincial title.
When play resumes, the Phillies and Central will pick up where they left off—Central leading 1–0 in the top of the third inning.
While standings favour Central, Phillies head coach Mike Hammond believes his team has already proven they can defy expectations.
“Going into that Westman game, we were total underdogs. We hadn’t beaten them all year, and they kind of had our number,” Hammond said Monday. “I told the girls everyone’s counting us out—go show them what we can do. And they did. Our pitching was on fire—lots of lazy fly balls, grounders, strikeouts—and everybody hit. Top to bottom, they all played their part. Our leaders really stepped up.”
The game between the Phillies and Central could also serve as a preview of a national tournament matchup.
As tournament hosts, Central has already secured an automatic berth to the U15 Female Canadian Championships, taking place Aug. 13–17 in Winkler. The other Manitoba berth will go to the winner of the Phillies–Central game. Eastman Wildcats, who await in the provincial final, will also qualify.
Regardless of the final result, all three teams—Central, Eastman and Interlake—will leave provincials with medals.
“It’s great,” Hammond said. “I felt so good for our majors on the team because they’ve never medalled before. To knock off Westman like that was huge—they’re going to walk away with hardware. The look on their faces after the game—they were jumping up and down. It was great to see.”
Many Phillies players will be competing at nationals for the first time.
“Especially for the older girls who’ve never been to a Westerns or Nationals—that’s going to be huge,” Hammond said. “Just being in the presence of teams from B.C., Ontario, Quebec—some of the top teams in the country—is going to be amazing for them.”
Game times for the rescheduled provincial matchups are still to be determined.
