McFarland: Alberta brings home silver at first Women's baseball Canada Summer Games competition
Alberta won silver at the first Women’s baseball Canada Summer Games competition in August. Photo: Baseball Alberta
*This article was originally published on Alberta Dugout Stories on August 18. You can read it here.
September 12, 2025
By Joe McFarland
Alberta Dugout Stories
It’s admittedly going to sting for a while.
However, Team Alberta has nothing to hang their heads about after returning home with a silver medal in the first-ever women’s baseball event at the Canada Summer Games in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The team ran roughshod over the competition during the round-robin before finding themselves in some battles during the playoffs.
After dispatching Nova Scotia in the semi-final, they fell 8-5 to Ontario in the championship game.
“It meant so much for me to capture a medal at the first women’s baseball event in Canada Summer Games history,” said star utility player Brooke Forslund (Sherwood Park, Alta.). “Knowing we will go down in history while inspiring all girls in baseball around Canada to keep playing just means the world.”
Medaling again also sets the bar higher as the team continues to grow together towards older age brackets.
A TIGHT-KNIT GROUP
Many of the players on the Canada Games roster have been together for quite some time already, most recently claiming silver at the 2024 Baseball Canada 16U National Championship in Saskatoon.
With the memories of the 6-1 loss to Quebec still fresh on their minds, as soon as the Canada Games roster was unveiled, players started getting ready.
“Our team has been preparing for this tournament ever since last year’s nationals,” said catcher Claire Hingley (Edmonton, Alta.). “I knew we were going to have a very strong team, so going into this tournament, I had high hopes that this team would do very well.”
The goal from the onset was to get back into gold medal game and avenge their previous loss.
It wasn’t going to be easy though, as they ended up in a tough Pool ‘A’ with perennial powerhouses B.C., Ontario, Quebec and the hosts from Newfoundland and Labrador.
OFF TO A FAST START
It didn’t take long for Team Alberta to show they were in it to win it all.
They opened up the Canada Games on Aug. 20 with a big 16-6 win thanks to three-RBI efforts from Hingley and Sydney Klebanosky (Spruce Grove, Alta.).
Team Alberta defeated B.C. 16-6 in their first game of the Canada Summer Games. Photo: Baseball Alberta
Just a few hours later, they hammered Ontario 15-5 with Forslund and Klebanosky notching three RBI each.
Alberta continued to roll the following day with a 13-3 triumph over Quebec and 12-2 victory over the hosts.
“Our pitching came through, our hitting came through, we played good defense,” Klebanosky told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. “I mean, with how good our team is, I wasn’t really surprised … but with a couple of those blowouts, I was like, ‘Geez we’re a good team.’”
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Listen to Alberta Dugout Stories interview Sydney Klebanosky here.
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Finishing the round-robin with a 4-0 record guaranteed themselves a spot in semi-final Saturday.
GOING IN WITH CONFIDENCE
A berth in the final four also guaranteed that Team Alberta would be fighting for a medal – it was just a matter of the colour.
“Going into the tournament, I had no doubt that we were going to medal,” said Forslund. “I knew how strong our team was, especially with how successful we were last year, it gave me a lot of confidence knowing we had a better team with more depth.”
Having been named to Alberta’s 19U team as well as the Women’s Open Championship roster, Forslund leaned on that experience to do everything she could to help her team to the gold medal game.
They would have to go through Nova Scotia first, who wasn’t about to lay down and play possum, as Mikael Fields hit a two-run home run in the top of the second inning to put her team up 2-0 early.
Team Alberta defeated Nova Scotia 5-2 in the semifinals. Photo: Baseball Alberta
Forslund cut that lead in half with an RBI fielder’s choice in the third.
In the fifth, Ara Siemens reached on an error to drive in Kamryn Kutzner (Okotoks, Alta.), then Forslund hit a two-run single to go up 4-2.
Hadley Prehn (Stettler, Alta.) added an RBI single in the following inning for some insurance as Alberta secured the 5-2 victory and a berth in the final.
WINNER TAKE ALL
No matter what happened, Team Alberta knew they were going to be on the podium for a history-making Canada Games.
But they wanted to be on the top and would have to get past Ontario again to do it.
Their eastern rivals came prepared and jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Victoria Curro brought in a run on a single.
Alberta answered the bell in the bottom of the second when Avery Mullin (Leduc, Alta.) drove in Abby Szilagyi (Okotoks, Alta.) on a ground out to first.
Things took a turn in the top of the fourth when Ontario scored four on a single from Zoe McGregor and doubles from Sophia Horton-Moulton and Olivia Westfall, then added two more in the next inning when McGregor and Horton-Moulton hit back-to-back singles with runners on.
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Listen to Alberta Dugout Stories interview Brooke Forslund here.
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Alberta wasn’t about to go down without a fight though.
Kutzner hit a two-run home run, then Hadwin and Cora Rydel (Edmonton, Alta.) scored on wild pitches to cut the lead to 7-5.
Ontario added one more in the top of the seventh inning to make it an 8-5 final to claim the gold medal.
The outcome was tough to swallow for James and the players.
“We were the best team in the tournament, by far,” said the head coach. “When baseball is a one-game playoff, the best team doesn’t always win.”
INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION
Despite the loss, James says he was happy for the players to once again do the province proud with a medal.
While it wasn’t what they came for, hindsight gave the athletes an opportunity to reflect and celebrate what they accomplished while inspiring the next generation of ball players.
“At the closing ceremonies, I was lucky enough to be one of the flagbearers,” said Klebanosky.
“Just seeing the medal around my neck and seeing not a lot of other people with medals, I was like, ‘Wow, we did that and we were the first team to make a podium at the Canada Summer Games for women’s baseball.’”
They all put it into perspective as well that their performance set the bar high for future Games.
“I’m so honoured to be a part of this group of players that made history at the Summer Games,” said Hingley. “I hope that these games continue to help pave the way for younger female baseball players who are wanting to be a part of something bigger.”
It was a special performance by an exceptional group of athletes who can now proudly add their names to the Canada Summer Games record books.