It was a successful weekend on the baseball diamond for Team Saskatchewan at the U19 Women’s Nationals in Saskatoon.
Saskatchewan secured a bronze medal with a 15-5 win over Alberta on Sunday afternoon at Cairns Field.
The host Saskatchewan squad had two Prince Albert locals on the team with 17-year-olds Brooklyn Leibel and Criseyde Borthwick.
Leibel appeared in one game playing third base against Newfoundland and Labrador in round robin going 0-for-3.
Borthwick played in four of Saskatchewan’s five games going 2-for-13 at the plate and driving in a pair of runs. On the mound, Borthwick started against Alberta in round robin play, tossing three-and-a-third innings allowing seven runs, six of them earned on seven hits. She walked two batters and punched out five.
In an interview with the Herald on Monday afternoon, Borthwick says she was happy Saskatchewan was able to medal as the tournament host.
“It’s such a good experience, and to be winning at home and it was a very good game. The score seemed like Alberta wasn’t a great team, but they definitely were a good team, but our team just played super well and we just wanted to win so bad.”
The 19U women’s tournament was the second of three times that Borthwick will put on the Saskatchewan jersey this summer.
Last month, Borthwick traveled to Winnipeg for the women’s national championship. Saskatchewan finished in sixth place with a young roster facing older competition.
She says it was an eye opening experience playing against more experienced women, including some who have experience on the national team.
“In my opinion, the women’s was a lot more competition and definitely girls that are very skilled and talented players. Same as 19U, they’re still talented and skilled players but with the women’s, most of them played on Team Canada or still play on Team Canada. It was still good, but definitely the competition was the biggest difference.”
Later this month, Borthwick will travel to Moncton for the 16U Girls Nationals from Aug. 20-23. Despite celebrating her 17th birthday earlier this year, Borthwick will be eligible for the tournament using one of the overage spots afforded to Saskatchewan.
When asked about returning to the 16U level, Borthwick says she is excited to play and hopefully
“I’m looking forward to being a good leader and just to see all these girls at such a young age and some starting where I started at. I’m just excited to just have fun and just see how everything is and also experience my last year at 16U, as it’ll be my fifth year. It’ll be fun just to see all those girls develop and definitely be a part of that too.”
Borthwick grew up in La Ronge where sports played a major role in her life growing up. Alongside her twin brother Declan, who was a sixth round pick of the Raiders back in 2024, Borthwick was always involved in some form of athletic activity including hockey and baseball.
She was also born into a family with a strong baseball background. Her parents, Corey and Carissa, were named Builders of the Year by Baseball Saskatchewan in 2008 for the work they did growing the sport of baseball in La Ronge. Corey was also inducted in the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023.
The Borthwick family relocated to Prince Albert a few years ago. Criseyde and Declan have played together for the Prince Albert Royals at both the U15 and U18 levels.
Whenever she puts on the Saskatchewan uniform, Borthwick is not only representing the province but also the northern region which is something that she says she takes pride in.
“It’s very important to me. There’s not a lot of girls that play baseball, and I think it’s very important that girls see that no matter where you’re from, you can always play, and there’ll always be a team. Even when I’m not playing with my Team Sask teams, I think it’s so important that girls play baseball with guys because it’s such good character development for yourself. I really hope that girls in baseball grow and develop a lot more in small communities, not just in bigger cities.”
When asked what advice she would give to a younger female baseball player, Borthwick says the most important thing is to have fun while on the diamond.
“I think it’s just to always have fun and just enjoy baseball, because I think baseball is more than just a game. It’s definitely the friends you meet along the way and all of the nationals you’re gonna be able to go to, and just all of those fun competitions, you have so many good experiences. I think it’s just so important to just always have fun, but also compete as well.”
editorial@paherald.sk.ca
