Alumni Update: Season Wrap-Up PART 1

BRIGITTE GAUVIN -  Brigitte’s San Jac Coyotes finished 3^rd place in their conference, earning them a berth into the Region 14 regional tournament May 1^st -4^th. They lost their first game against Angelina College 6-5. The next day they played against Paris Junior College and also lost that game 1-0, so that ended their season. The team finished with a 34-25 record. Brigitte was named to the All Conference Second Team. On April 16^th,2015, Brigitte signed her Letter of Intent  to join the NCAA Divison 1 softball program at The University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio,Texas. She is looking forward to next year to begin the next chapter of her Softball career. Go UIW Cardinals!!!!!!

 

 

CRASH PAYNE - While the softball team at Southwestern Oklahoma State University had a disappointing year at 8 and 37, Crash did what she could to help out, finishing with the third highest batting average at 333 and playing all three positions in the outfield.  Senior weekend, however, was almost a non-event for her, because during practise, Crash broke a knuckle on the index finger of her catching hand while diving for a ball.  True to form, she convinced her doctor to postpone a cast for a week so that she could play.

Friday’s games did not last long in the rain, so that meant that Saturday would see the finish of game one as well as the season-ending double header. Mom and Dad were in attendance and so were Crash’s Junior College Assistant Coach and her husband, Crash’s JuCo advisor, after they had driven in from Dodge City. Crash started game two by robbing the first opposition batter with a spectacular diving catch in the outfield, and then she went on to earn 2 hits and a walk in the team’s final victory. The best moment, however, was seeing her on third base after starting a rally in the second with a bunt single, when team mate, Adrienne Martinez, hit a grand slam to break the school’s home run and RBI records. It was an exciting moment for the fans and the entire team!

Makensy had a few moments of pain catching fly balls, especially on a sliding catch in centre field in the last game (one that had her chewing on the collar of her uniform for the next few plays), but everything seemed normal at the plate, if you leave out the fact that she wore no batting gloves and did not grip the bat with her left index finger. There was simply no way Crash was going to sit for her team’s final games. A few days later, she was back at the doctor to get a real cast on that finger. It was no big deal: she anticipates the cast will be off and all will be well as soon as she gets home.

 

COURTNEY KWASNITZA - Illinois College ended its 2015 softball season with a home double-header sweep of Midwest Conference South Division rival Knox College (Illinois) on April 26th in Jacksonville, Illinois. Courtney and six teammates were honoured as part of Senior Day festivities, which marked the final home game of their softball careers.  Courtney was one of four Seniors who spent her entire 4-year career with the Lady Blues.

 

For the first time in the history of Kamp Field, the American and Canadian flags flew together.  In addition to the traditional pre-game singing of the American national anthem, teammate Leah Schumaker sang a beautiful bilingual version of “O’ Canada” in honour of Courtney’s final career game.   The flying of the Maple Leaf and the singing of “O’ Canada” were special, surprise moments for Courtney.  Another surprise was the “Lucky Two-nie” that Courtney’s dad secretly hid in the Lady Blues dugout early in the morning on game-day! 

Courtney started all 33 games behind the plate in 2015 and finished with a .348 batting average.  Her 39 hits included 8 doubles, 3 triples, and 2 homers.  She led the Lady Blues in at bats, runs scored, total bases, and stolen bases; was tied for the team lead in doubles, triples, and homers; and was 2nd in hits and batting average.  Courtney was a steady defensive presence as the Lady Blues’ catcher. Courtney started every game as the Lady Blues’ catcher during her 4-year career.  Some of her Illinois College career highlights include: 1st all-time in at-bats and stolen bases (tied); 2nd all-time in runs scored, hits, and triples (tied); and 5th all-time in home runs and slugging percentage.

For the third time in four years, Courtney was named to the Midwest Conference All-Star team.  She was also named Academic All-Midwest Conference for the 4th consecutive year.  

Courtney earned a Bachelor of Science degree, graduating Summa Cum Laude (3.86 GPA on a 4.0 scale) with a Biology major and Psychology minor.  Courtney was named to the Dean’s List (minimum GPA of 3.5) for all 8 semesters at Illinois College.  She has been accepted into the University of Winnipeg’s After-degree program in the Faculty of Education, Senior Years stream, for this September. Courtney is very proud of her Manitoba softball roots, especially her time with the South Interlake Phillies, Team Manitoba 2013 (Canada Games), and Smitty’s Seniors 2014.    

 

DANIELLE KLASSEN - The Dakota Wesleyan Tigers season came to an end a little sooner than hoped for as they missed the playoffs by one spot.  What looked like a promising year last fall never got on the right track once the season started this spring.   Although her team did not finished like they had wanted Dani had another strong year for DWU.  Dani played centre field and was the lead off hitter for her team. She started 43 of their 44 games where she batted .313.  This was Dani’s senior year and no doubt will miss playing good calibre ball next year.  Dani was one of five seniors on the starting lineup this year. Next years team will look a lot different.  Dani leaves DWU after two seasons holding four team records. Most stolen bases in a career, most stolen bases in a season, best stolen base attempts percent, and most runs scored in a season.  Dani enjoyed her four years playing college ball and is sorry to see it end.  Dani’s career choice is Interior Design.

 

HAILEY UNGER - For a third straight year at Dakota Wesleyan University, Hailey was selected to the All-Conference First Team at the end her Junior season. With the top batting average on her team, and 6th in the conference, at 0.433 she also broke two school batting records. With the most RBI's in a season at 37 and most RBI's in a career with 87, Hailey broke the old record of 69 with another year to go. With a 0.587 slugging percentage she hit 6 home runs this season. Unfortunately, the Tigers had a rough go this year and didn't make it to the conference tournament in the end. Out in the field, Hailey had to adapt as she got a few game starts at third base. Though she agrees we should keep her behind the plate where she belongs! Back in March, her team's spring break took place in Tucson, AZ and that's about all the sun the Tigers saw all season! They would've been better off playing here in Winnipeg. In the classroom, Hailey ended with a 4.0 and received Scholar Athlete awards for her third straight year. She's also clocked in a lot of time in the elementary school classrooms! Student teaching is getting closer as she goes into her senior year.

 

MIA GAUTRON - Mia's team ended the 2015 season with an overall 26-29 record and a loss in the semi finals of the Region IX playoffs. Mia led the team with a .365 BA, and also had a .356 OBP, and .399 SLG. This ends Mia's experience in Colorado and it was difficult to leave a place where wonderful friendships were created and unforgettable experiences happened