There will be a special ceremonial pitch display ahead of Wednesday night’s Beavers home opener versus Saskatoon A’s showdown. (File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Celebrating Baseball

AA Beavers look to ‘bridge the past and future’ at home-opener Wednesday

Jun 16, 2021 | 2:08 PM

The 18U AA Beavers will host the Saskatoon A’s for their home opener at Beaver Lions Stadium in North Battleford Wednesday evening.

The theme of the night will be ‘bridging the past and the future,’ and will feature three special ceremonial first pitches thrown by Sask. Baseball Hall of Fame CEO and president Jane Shury, Battlefords Minor Baseball president Clint Gieni, and a rookie player from the Beavers’ roster.

Head coach of the Beavers, Dean Dimmick said the night is all about celebrating the sport in the community and continuing to ‘building that culture of baseball back up again,’ post-pandemic, as things begin to reopen once again.

“Through COVID and everything, we just wanted to do something to show the young baseball players what the future could hold for them, but also respect and reflect on all the ones from the past, as well and try to bridge that all together,” Dimmick said. “The Battlefords has always been a big baseball community, and I think we’re really getting back to that point.”

While the night’s game will be the Beavers’ first of the season on home soil, it will be their third overall this year. After their scheduled season-opener in Unity was rained out, the team played a double-header versus the Prince Albert Royals on Saturday.

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Falling 15-14 and 14-9 in the two high-octane games, Dimmick said while the team may still be searching for their first ‘W’ of the season heading into Wednesday, there’s still plenty of positives to build on from the opening two games.

“I was actually impressed our bats were really working well, as both [outings] were high scoring games, and that’s nice because the bats usually trail everything else,” Dimmick said. “Offensively, that’s obviously good to see, and now we just have to polish up on a few other aspects of our game.”

Wednesday’s matchup with Saskatoon will begin at 6:30 p.m. Following the night’s action, the Beavers will get a week off between games to practice and prepare for another double-header, this time at home against Unity June 23.

Dimmick said they hope to see a nice turnout Wednesday evening for the home opener in front of the local crowd.

“I think everyone’s just ready to get out again and get back to normal a bit, and baseball’s one of those things,” he said. “It’s just a great way to get out, have some entertainment and hopefully get to see some people and cheer on the home team.”

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1