For many in the Battlefords, the spring means a return to baseball, as a popular pastime of the season in the community. (File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)
Diamond Dreamin'

Battlefords Minor Baseball optimistic for return to games this season

Mar 17, 2021 | 2:00 PM

With spring around the corner, baseball season is drawing ever-closer in the Battlefords.

In a non-COVID year, baseball would generally start in early May, depending on the condition of the diamonds, with games going nightly by the second weekend of the month.

Last year, the local U18 team was the only age group to actually play games. The rest of the local association opted to focus strictly on skill development through practices due to the restrictions in place because of the pandemic.

President of the Battlefords Minor Baseball Association, Clinton Gieni said this year they are hopeful to be able to return to game-play for all ages, and get back to some semblance of a regular schedule. So long as they receive blessings from Baseball Saskatchewan and the government, and it is deemed safe to do so.

“Hopefully before the school year ends, we’ll see kids back on the diamond of all age groups, at least practicing if not playing some games,” he said. “I’m hoping before June 1, but like everything else, it’s up in the air right now.”

Currently, Battlefords Minor Baseball is in the midst of offering their indoor skills programing, featuring clinics for kids covering the fundamentals, from catching and throwing to hitting.

Gieni said it’s been great to see the turnout for the camps, as they have already filled up to capacity, to the end of next month. He said it just goes to show the importance of the game to those in the community.

“Obviously we’re still operating under a lot of regulations right now so we’re limited to the number of people we can have in our facility, but we’re very lucky all our camps are all full to the maximum we can take,” he said. “I actually wasn’t expecting that to necessarily happen, but it’s certainly good to see.”

Coming off their annual general meeting last week, Gieni said the next order of business for the board will be meeting later this month or early next, to discuss registration numbers and possible team numbers. From there, they can then begin drafting a rough outline for a schedule sooner rather than later.

“I think everybody would like to see the kids outside and being active on the diamonds,” Gieni said. “Baseball is a good team sport and there’s a lot of learning that can come from it. We just have to wait and see what opportunities are going to be given to us, and I look forward to seeing what we’ll have transpire this year.”

Registration for the baseball season is available on the Battlefords Minor Baseball website.

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1

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