The Elmwood Giants were one game away from winning the 21-and-Under Western Canadian Championships in Saskatoon over the weekend.

Jayson Brooks and Chance Dickenson of Portage la Prairie were on the team that made it to the championship game.

Brooks says they came out firing.

"We started off really strong. We mercied the first two teams we faced," says Brooks. "The team we ended up playing in the final, we lost to on Saturday. We won on Sunday morning to get us to the final and then we kind of gave them the game in the final. We didn't play very good. We didn't give our best effort."

The Giants defeated the Interlake Blue Jays in game one 16-3 before beating the Innisfail Merchants 13-3. The Giants lost to the host Saskatoon Hoppers 10-0 on the Saturday. Elmwood came back to beat the St. Albert Cardinals 3-2 to advance to the final where they lost to the host team 12-2.

When asked what went wrong in the final, Brooks was unsure.

"I don't even really know. We just didn't play defence like we normally do and we made a lot of errors. We gave them three runs basically," says Brooks. "Their pitcher pitched well. We had some hard-hit balls, but just couldn't get anything to fall."

All in all, Brooks says it was a successful year. After losing many players from last season, some thought this would be a rebuilding year for the Giants. Instead, they won the Manitoba Junior Baseball League with a record of 20-3. They went 6-2 in the postseason to win the title.

Brooks says they are a tight-knit group, and they never gave up. Several times during the season, they would find themselves down in the final inning, yet they would find a way to win. He notes that happened throughout the MJBL season and the playoffs.

He says the team is eager to try and get to Nationals next year, wherever they happen to be. Brooks says that would make his final year in Junior, a success.