They travelled to Boissevain and Morden the past two years and now the Steinbach Regional Secondary School can enjoy all the comforts of home as the Sabres will host the Provincial High School Fastpitch Championship this Friday and Saturday.

"It's what we shoot for every year," said SRSS coach Lawney Penner. "We're excited to play the best in the province, excited to be hosting it in Mitchell. Maybe we'll have some more family and friends out than usually would be. There's a lot of excitement."

The Boissevain Broncos are the number one seed and the Zone 13 champion Sabres are number two.

"Boissevain's got a good team," remarked Penner. "Could have went either way with us, Boissevain, Portage Collegiate or Stonewall. The top four teams are all really tight. They've all beaten each other. And you've got to give respect for 5 through 12. When you get to provincials, they're all good ball teams and upsets happen."

Steinbach Regional played in the last two provincials finals and lost both to Portage Collegiate.

The Saints beat the SRSS 11-0 in Boissevain in 2015 and then downed the Sabres 7-5 last year in Morden.

"Two years ago was our first year there with this particular squad or with some of the girls who are still here and it was kind of an eye-opener," said Penner. "We used everything we got to get there and then they spanked us pretty hard in the finals. Last year we felt it could have went either way. It was a tight match and it just makes us that much hungrier this year to hopefully get there again and have a shot at finishing it off."

The key to success, according to the SRSS coach, starts on the mound.

"You've got to have pitching. You can't rely on one pitcher through the whole two day experience. Five games, 29 innings - you need two, three, four pitchers and then you've got to have some depth. If you're relying on four batters to get you all your runs, it's not going to cut it when you get to the top teams. You got to be able to hit at the bottom of the order, just like the top of the order and manufacture runs in any inning and in any part of your lineup."

Pool A consists of Boissevain, Vincent Massey (Brandon) & Goose Lake of Roblin.

Pool B includes the SRSS, Neepawa & Sturgeon Heights.

Pool C has Portage Collegiate, Major Pratt of Russell & College Jeanne-Sauve

Pool D is made up of Stonewall, Nellie McClung of Manitou & Helen Betty Osborne School in Norway House.