UBC Okanagan Wins 3rd WCSA Championship

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UBC Okanagan Heat is the 2024 WCSA Champion! In the final game, UBCO defeated Saskatchewan 5 to 2 led by pitcher Taylor McRae and a home run by Cheyenne Simicak. It was a well-played game with good pitching and defense on both sides.

In the semi-finals, UBCO and Calgary played a dramatic game with UBCO winning 8 to 7 in an extra 8th inning. Calgary was up 6 to 2 after the top of the 6th powered by a grand slam by Chloe Maher. Relief pitcher Sheyanne Lawrence hit a deep home run in the bottom of the 6th to make it 6 to 3, and UBCO had five hits in the bottom of the 7th to score 3 runs to tie the game. Calgary failed to score in the top of the 8th. With Taylor Roeseler on 2nd, Cheyenne Simicak hit a ball to the fence that was caught in spectacular fashion by center fielder Gabriel Coderre while jumping into the fence. After tagging up, Taylor scored for the winning run. However, there was confusion on the timing of the tagging up, resulting in the run not counting. The next pitch 3rd base Taryn Lamb crushed a walk-off home run.

The semi-final between Saskatchewan and Regina was just as exciting. Saskatchewan jumped to a 6 to 0 lead after five innings with multiple hits by Taryn Moehler, Rhyan Amundson, Amanda Paquette, and Makenna Pilbeam. Regina came back strong with 4 runs in the 6th and then tied the game with 4 runs in the 7th highlighted by a 3-run home run by Josie Bentz. In the extra 8th inning, Saskatchewan scored 4 runs to take the game 12 to 9.

In the bronze medal game, Calgary defeated Regina 7 to 3 with Chloe Maher hitting another two home runs and collecting 5 RBI.

The 5th-6th game was Victoria defeating Mount Royal 9 to 2. Mount Royal had played many great games on the weekend highlighted by an upset over Lethbridge. In this game, Victoria had multiple hit games by Dani Boudreau, Maya Holmes, Bella Glawson, and Alex Buckham with Sophie Hepner providing excellent pitching.

The 7th-8th game had tremendous offense with Lethbridge defeating SAIT by a score of 18 to 11. Emma Dousett had 3 hits and 3 RBIs and Tehya Funk had a home run for SAIT. Lethbridge had many players with multiple hits including Cadence Penner, Katelyn Jeglum, Ainsley Olsen, Molly Michell, and Kendal DeRosa.

The teams played competitive games in a beautiful sunny day on Saturday. In Pool A, UBCO finished 3-0 followed by Saskatchewan (2-1), Victoria (1-2), and SAIT (0-3). There were some very close games. UBCO and Saskatchewan battled for the number 1 spot in Pool A in the last game on Saturday with UBCO emerging victorious with a 8 to 7 score. Taylor Roeseler hit a grand slam and Sheyanne Lawrence had a lead off home run for UBCO, and Amanda Paquette scored 3 runs for Saskatchewan.

In Pool B, Regina won the pool with a record of 2-1 on the strength of a head-to-head victory over Calgary by 16 to 12. Chloe Mayer and Katie Berg both had 3 RBIs for Calgary. Regina used the long ball with 2 home runs by Madilynn Geiss and one each for Brooke Bentz and Josie Bentz. Calgary (2-1) finished 2nd followed by Mount Royal (1-2) and Lethbridge (1-2).

Individual player highlights included Sheyanne Lawrence (UBCO) with 3 wins, 14 strikeouts, and a 0.70 ERA and Emma Maurice (Saskatchewan) with a 0.93 ERA. There were a tremendous number of home runs led by Chloe Mayer (Calgary) with 6 (and 18 RBIs), UBCO players Cheyenne Simicak and Taryn Lamb with 4, and Sheyanne Lawrence (UBCO) and Madilynn Geiss (Regina) with three. Maya Holmes (Victoria) and Mikhaela Muir (UBCO) led the tournament with a 0.625 batting average following by Rhyan Amundson (Saskatchewan) 0.611, Malia VanDoren (Lethbridge) 0.600, and Aly Meyer (SAIT) 0.571. All statistics are available on GameChanger.

Congratulations to the University of Saskatchewan and UBC Okanagan for qualifying for Nationals for 2025! Calgary and UBCO will play in the 2024 CCSA National Championship in Ottawa on Thanksgiving weekend from Oct 11 to 13.

Final Playoff Standings:

  1. UBC Okanagan – Gold medal
  2. University of Saskatchewan – Silver medal
  3. University of Calgary – Bronze medal
  4. University of Regina
  5. University of Victoria
  6. Mount Royal University
  7. University of Lethbridge
  8. SAIT
University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat Gold Medalists
University of Saskatchewan Huskies Silver Medalists
UUniversity of Calgary Dinos Bronze Medalists