A MacGregor-born pitcher is proud of her performances this summer, despite receiving the short end of the stick. 

16-year-old Jewell Thompson took part in three events with Team Manitoba this year, once with the boy's U16 group, the second one being with the U21 female squad, and the final time with her own U16 female age group.

Thompson says both of the female teams ended the round-robin tied for first place but dropped below the top four due to run differential. At those events, only the top four teams get a chance to place in a medal game after the round-robin. Even with the disappointing placement, Thompson believes the team performed very well.

"I'd say we did awesome. We fought hard, and it was a really good experience for all of us but it really sucked," Thompson explains. "All of the other teams that we were tied with at the 21U event got to play in a medal game, and we were just kind of thrown off to the side."

The MacGregor native talks about her main highlight with Team Manitoba this summer.

"When we played Newfoundland, Jaida Lee pitched against us. She was the first female to play baseball in the Canada Summer Games," Thompson continues. "She also threw the first pitch at a (Toronto) Blue Jays game the other day."

Thompson says her last tournament of the year saw her take on girls her own age. After a tournament against boys, and against girls in university under her belt, she went into the final event feeling great about her abilities.

"I definitely had way more confidence going into a younger age group after coming from a higher one. I went into it thinking the game would be slowed down a bit but that actually wasn't the case. It was pretty well the same competition-wise."

Thompson believes the variety of teams she played with this year has given her some different insight on how she can improve as a pitcher going into next season.