U17 Select Thunder qualify for provincial championships

Pictured are the U17 Select Wilmot Thunder, a team of U15-aged players playing up an age group in the U17 division who have earned a spot at the OSSTA Provincial Championship Aug. 21-23 in North Bay. Pictured in the first row, from left to right, are Miranda Whiting, Kendal Schmidt, Zoe Sanche, Lily Lloyd-Klooster, Kinsley Bonnick and Morgan Kraemer. In the second row, from left, are coach Shawn Bonnick, coach Chad Koehler, Alexis Hergott, Emma Vale, Karlie McCullum, Dibora Roth, Alison Bardwell, Bella Ruth, Myla Lewis, and coach Denelle Sanche. Contributed photo

By Spencer Seymour

Competing in an age group higher than their actual ages, the U17 Select Wilmot Thunder have punched their ticket for the Ontario Select Softball Tournament Association (OSSTA) Provincial Championship, to be held Aug. 21-23 in North Bay.

The squad, which is actually a U15 team playing up at the U17 level, finished fourth at the Barrie Smash tournament July 24-26 to earn their trip to North Bay. According to head coach Shawn Bonnick, the players’ desire to develop was the driving force behind the group’s decision to play up an age level after finishing as provincial silver medalists of the U15 division one year ago.

“They did exceptional last year,” Bonnick said. “They had a fantastic season and just from coaching these girls over the last six years, I was fortunate enough to have the majority of them back again. So, this year, they chose that, instead of staying at the U15 level where they came in silver last year at provincials, they wanted to get better and push harder. So, we decided to go to the U17 level and see what happens.”

Bonnick called the group’s collective desire to play against teams several years older than them “endearing.”

“It shows that everything we've been teaching them for the past four or five years with these girls – the life skills, the constant push for more and push to get better – when you put your head down and work, you can reap the rewards,” Bonnick said. “It’s just endearing to see that they’ve taken that to its fullest depth. You've got to get a good set of kids at that point that you can push because that's what they're asking for. They want to learn. They want to be sponges. They want to get better. They want to have those goals met at the end of the day. It's a really special group of girls that I’ve got here.”

Bonnick noted, despite the team’s strong play last season, they didn’t enter this year expecting the success they have found given the higher age group and calibre of play.

“We set the expectations at the start of the season that we may be just middle of the pack, said Bonnick. “We may not excel the way we did last year, but in terms of development, they’ll get significantly better, and they all said, ‘Yes, we want to be better. Let’s focus on getting better, so that, when we are a U17 team, we can kill it.’ Little did I know that they would put their money where their mouth is and kill it now.”

The team’s successful season at the U17 level was punctuated by their fourth-place finish in Barrie at the end of July where they earned a berth in the provincial championship, with a highlight coming when the Thunder took down their rivals from Waterloo to earn a place in the medal round, and, in doing so, provincials as well.

“We ended up having to play seven games throughout the weekend. At the end of the round-robin, it put us into the semi-finals and put us against one of our very close rivals, Waterloo. So, at that point that morning, that was a do-or-die game to get into the medal round, which is a big deal at this age level. Just getting into the medal round is something significant. We tied Waterloo in the round-robin, and we beat them to get into the medal round.”

“It was huge for the girls,” Bonnick continued. “It solidified for them at that point that going up to the U17 and putting all that hard work and effort that they've put into it, that it actually means something, that they've earned it, they deserve it and they're exactly where they should be for their development.”

The team also delivered some of the most memorable moments and individual plays of the season during the Barrie tournament.

“We actually had our first-ever home run at the U17 level. Kinsley (Bonnick) hit the home run, so that was a fantastic accomplishment that we had in our final game. And then we also had a triple play made by Lilly (Lloyd Klooster), which was incredible to watch.”

As Bonnick reflected on the team’s success at the U17 level, he cited their camaraderie as a major element to their ability to withstand adversity and eventually blossom into a provincial-calibre power.

“The biggest thing that I would say with this team that they've been doing for a while now is the support of one another. They are a fantastic team for sportsmanship, for supporting one another, bringing that bond of friendship, and I dare say being sisters on and off the field. They can go into a game and get mercied in the first inning, and it doesn’t faze them. Every single girl is trying to pick up the next girl to get back out there and do what they need to do. And nine times out of 10, if they go out there and they just have fun, they come away with the win, so it's very difficult to play against them when you might beat them in an inning, and you look at them, and they look like they just don't care. They're still having fun.”

Looking ahead to provincials, Bonnick doesn’t want the group having any doubt or fears.

“My focus for the group is just to go in there with the mindset of having fun,” Bonnick said. “The fact that they've even made provincials is already way above where we thought we would be this year, and that itself is the accomplishment. We’re going into that tournament understanding that we’re now playing the best of the best in the province.

“They've earned that right to be among the best of the best in the province and to go in understanding that no singular play at any point in the game defines yourself. If you go in and you put 100 per-cent effort into it and you make an error, it doesn't matter. You’ll never win or lose a game off of a single play. Everything that happens in the game happens as a team.”

Bonnick further emphasized how deserving his team is of the success they have managed to find.

“I think it's just the fact that these girls have truly earned it. We look at these teams that we play against, and some of these other teams, they look at us and go like, ‘How did you do this?’ That was something that I had to reflect on and go, ‘As much as I can teach these girls what to do, they have to want it. They have to do it. They have to practice it.’ This year alone, they'll have been on the diamond for over 144 hours, which is crazy, but it’s because they’ve asked for it.

“Their perseverance, their desire to play the game, their desire to come together as a group, it’s been incredible to watch and it’s crazy because we’re playing teams where every girl on the team has a driver’s license, and we have girls on our team who just graduated Grade 8. So, when you put it in perspective like that, it really is magical what this team has done.”