Sultans are Baseball Manitoba award winners – SteinbachOnline.com

15U provincial AAA champion Carillon Sultans was recognized twice by Baseball Manitoba at the Association’s 2022 Awards Banquet in Brandon last Saturday night.

The Sultans were named High Performance Team of the Year in the Minor Category and Clinton Brandt was named High Performance Coach of the Year.

“It’s weird to be recognized for yourself, but it was a lot of fun celebrating with my team,” Brandt said shortly after the banquet. “It’s kind of the end of a really exciting summer. Really proud of this group. Everyone involved, the players, the coaches and the parents. It was a really fun group and I’ll never forget the season.”

The Sultans defeated South Central 3-1 in the finals of the Provincial Tier One Championship in Brandon on the last day of July and earned a trip to the Western Canada Championship in Saskatoon.

That win over South Central came just three hours after Carillon suffered his only loss of the weekend, 10-7 to the same South Central squad, in the Sultans’ round-robin final.

“It was a strong group, but by no means the favorites going into this tournament,” said Brandt. “Some of the teams that had our number throughout the season we were finally able to beat in the biggest moments where it mattered the most. I think it speaks a little to the character of the lads that the moment wasn’t.” It wasn’t too big a deal for them that they could remain calm under pressure. I know they were nervous, of course you would be, but they managed to get over it and keep up. I was really happy for her.”

“To see the last breakaway being caught and then all the coaches gathered and hugged each other and supported the players – it was an emotional moment where you see your reward for all the hours put in for everyone – All the players, all the coaches, everyone gets a bit of joy after so much work,” added Brandt. “You don’t always have that feeling, so it’s exciting when it’s your turn.”

Baseball Manitoba’s Clinton Brandt & Louis Cote (photo courtesy of Patti Hacault)

Clinton Brandt spent many hours driving down the Trans-Canada Highway last baseball season.

His Zone 13 Champion Steinbach Regional Team qualified for the Provincial High School Championship in Brandon.

His Sultans team was a finalist in the Canada Day Classic and four weeks later won the provincial 15U AAA Tier One championship.

Both events took place in Brandon.

He was the head coach of the 15U Provincial Team that finished fourth at the Baseball Canada National Championships in Saskatoon, and one of their open tryouts for the Provincial Team was at Brandon.

So it was only fitting that Baseball Manitoba’s 2022 awards banquet was held in Brandon.

Brandt says it’s his love of baseball that drives him to continue giving back to the game.

“It’s always fun. I’ve spent a lot of time and it doesn’t feel like time spent, more like time invested, something I really enjoy and am competitive. Getting a chance to give back, sure, but I enjoy being shoulder to shoulder with the players and coaches and working towards a common goal. It makes a lot of fun.”

Back row: Clinton Brandt (Coach), Bud Penner (Coach), Cody Bartel (Coach), Kaden Coldwell, Nathan Forster, Carson Janzen, Caleb Arnaud, Ryker Wiens, Jackson Penner, Drew Heide, Noah Vogt (Coach), Brennan Klassen (Coach) & Burke Heath (Coach)

First row: Kieran Callewaert, Dylan Klassen, Connor Tallaire, Connor Demarcke, Nate Zilinski & Avery Pickering