Four Innisfail women will be taking a swing at the Western Canadian Fastball Championships in Abbotsford B.C. next month.
The group is part of the Red Deer Panthers, a senior B ladies team. They just placed gold at the provincials over the July 21-22 weekend, qualifying them for the westerns Aug. 16-18.
“This was our first year in senior B,” said Tanis Wik, 23, who has been on the team for four years. She said they were playing at the intermediate level for the last few years, and while they won two out of the three years at that level, the team wasn't expecting to do so well in their first year as seniors.
“We weren't thinking we'd win the (provincial) tournament because it's our first year —we thought it'd be a learning year for the first year or so. It was kind of unexpected.”
She said the team is made up of a great group of women and she is excited to see how they'll do in Abbotsford.
“I'm not even sure what the next step is if we do well at the championships,” she said. “We're just taking it one step at a time and will see how we do from there.”
The team is made up of women between the ages of 17 and 28. Haley Weinrauch, 17, and sister Brianna, 19, are two other Innisfail players, as is Cassandra Kircham, 19.
“We're really excited,” said Brianna. She said the competition should be pretty tough.
“I think especially because the B.C. teams play all year long, they're going to be at a higher level and it'll be more competitive.”
