Nearly 12 months of hard work came full circle for the U15 AAA Interlake Phillies at the 2025 Canadian Softball Championships last week in Morden and Winkler.
Interlake Phillies Paige Bernier slides into second base beating the tag by BC Selects Marika LeBlanc
The Phillies entered the tournament as underdogs after an upset at provincials earned them the third and final Manitoba berth at nationals. Their goal was to finish in the top 12 among the 21 teams from across the country.
After going 3-3 in the round robin, the Phillies emerged as the dark horse of the tournament.
They followed that up with back-to-back playoff victories before eventually finishing tied for fifth in Canada after being eliminated by their Manitoba rival, the Eastman Wildcats.
“I couldn’t be more proud of those girls to see how far they came from the beginning of the year to now,” said coach Mike Hammond.
The Phillies’ nationals run began with a pair of opening-day victories Wednesday over the New Brunswick Selects and Saskatchewan’s White Butte Storm.
In the opener against the Selects in Morden, runs by Jersey MacMillan and Sara Vande gave the Phillies the lead in the first inning. They added insurance over the following frames to secure a 9-5 win.
Later that evening, the Phillies’ offence kept rolling with a 10-2 win over the Storm. A 14-hit performance, including three from Jordyn Chetyrbok, carried them to victory. Chetyrbok, Kendra Zaretzky, Paige Bernier and Lily Hammond each drove in two runs.
Thursday in Winkler brought the Phillies’ first setback, a 7-2 loss to B.C.’s Cloverdale Fury. That afternoon, Interlake battled Ontario’s Oakville Angels in a pitcher’s duel, with Quinn Twordik and Abby Voth splitting time in the circle. A sacrifice fly from Kaitlyn Braid put Interlake on the board first, but Oakville answered with two runs in the fourth and went on to a 4-2 win.
Playoff hopes took another hit Friday with a 5-3 loss to Alberta’s St. Albert Angels. Interlake led 3-2 in the fourth before errors shifted the momentum.
That set up a must-win round robin finale later in the day against B.C.’s White Rock Renegades. Phillies pitcher Kardyn Reimer delivered a dominant seven-inning performance, allowing just three hits and one run in a 3-1 win. MacMillan and Braid led the offence as Interlake secured a playoff berth as the seventh seed.
With renewed life heading into Saturday’s playoff round, Hammond started on the mound against the Fraser Valley Fusion 2011. She went five innings, allowing only three hits and one run. Twordik and Brynn Williams each drove in a run, while Reimer closed with three innings of no-hit ball and three strikeouts to seal another 3-1 win.
Next up was Alberta’s Kaizen Hunter. A two-run first inning from Hammond and Rachel Lyver gave Interlake the early edge. Both later added another RBI as Twordik and Reimer combined to scatter six hits in a 5-0 shutout win.
Just two hours later, Interlake was back on the field against the Eastman Wildcats. The Wildcats jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead and added two more in the third. The Phillies responded with RBIs from Braid and Twordik but couldn’t overcome the deficit in a 9-2 loss that ended their run.
“After the game, we told the girls, ‘Hey, listen, we just finished top six in the country. You took the best teams in Alberta, you’re knocking off great teams in B.C.,’” said Hammond. “I said, ‘You’ve got nothing to hang your heads about. You did Interlake proud. Everybody here was rooting for you, and you made everybody happy.’”
The season’s close marked the end of U15 eligibility for Phillies players MacMillan, Vande, Kara Powroznik, Chetyrbok and Braid. The five veterans will move up to U17 eligibility next spring, with the potential to join the U17 AAA Interlake Phillies.
“The majors on the team that are moving up next year, I know they’re going to do great things. All of them were great leaders on this team,” said Hammond.
As one season ends, another is already approaching. U15 tryouts are set for September, with a new group of players hoping to continue the program’s success.
