By Sam Hintzman
The Menomonie Mustang 14U Maroon Team was crowned National Champions at the 2022 MONSTA Fastpitch Championships which were held August 4th-7th at Aquila Park in St. Louis Park, MN. All teams attending had received a national ‘berth’ by placing at a qualifying tournament earlier in the season.
The Mustangs played 10 games over the 4-day tournament. The team won 3 games in pool play to place them in the gold tournament bracket where they went 6-1. They fell to the MN Blast Sunday afternoon but fought back to meet them again in the championship game where they double dipped them, 6-2 in the first game and 2-0 in a shutout final championship game.
Nationals gave the team an opportunity to meet girls from across the country. The weekend was filled with a variety of team building activities including a team gift exchange, pin trading and a team parade event where the Mustangs sported a fun Top Gun theme (see below picture).
The team finished the season with a record of 46-3-1. In addition to the national championship, the 14U Maroon Team won their local Mustang Stampede tournament, were named Tri-County League Champions, MN State Qualifier Champions, and MN State 14U - Tier2 Champions. Most importantly, the girls made memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.
Menomonie Jr. Mustangs (MJM) is a Non-Profit Organization, with a commitment to provide high quality competitive softball for girls 8U-14U in the Menomonie community and hope to expand to include 16U.
The organization has a proud tradition of developing local girls’ softball skills, as well as a history of fielding competitive teams that enjoy success locally. The mission of the Menomonie Jr Mustangs Softball Program is to mold their teams into not only great athletes, but also great young women.
Over the course of the years, the program has expanded from just one team to 7 competitive teams, created a Board of Directions and formed a partnership with the Menomonie Moose Lodge #1584 where their players now practice and play on “Fisher Field,” which has been a great addition to the community, thanks to the family of the late Mike Fisher.
As the program has grown, so has the program’s success. Many teams over the course of the years have received berths to various National Tournaments but this year was a special year for the 14U Maroon Team as they brought home the programs first ever national championship.
More information about the Mustang Jr. Softball program can be found on their website and Facebook page.
