A U11 Royals player runs the bases during a game at the provincial tournament in Prince Albert. (Submitted Photo/Mark Peterson Media)

By Derek Craddock

HOME RUN

P.A. hosts successful U11 Baseball Provincial Tournament

Jul 18, 2023 | 6:00 AM

It was a busy weekend in Prince Albert as the city hosted hundreds of baseball players, coaches and fans during U11 Provincials.

Eight teams from across Saskatchewan took part in the tournament with the Saltcoat Lakers winning the title, beating Rosetown 7-0.

Although the P.A. Royals U11 team didn’t come away with a medal, Michael Lypchuk with the tournament board said the event was a huge success.

“It was very well attended, very well put together by all the volunteers and parents and board members from Prince Albert Minor Baseball,” he said. “All of the teams that came had a lot of positive things to say about the tournament, the city and their accommodations.”

The Royals team went 1-2 on the weekend schedule and played their games inside the upgraded Kinsmen Complex Facility.

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Other provincial championships were held over the weekend including the U15 tournament.

The Royals held a perfect 3-0 record in the round-robin but fell short in the semi-final.

“In the end, we just had a hard time putting the bat on the ball in that semi-final and got outscored,” said U15 Coach Graham McGregor.

“Those kids are quite experienced in provincial play. They went in, just ready to do the job they needed to do. We had good pitching, we had good defense.”

Although their season came to an end, McGregor said the team grew tremendously over the year and bonded well as a team.

“They were a very tight-knit group of kids,” he said. “We would have a two-hour practice and they would spend another hour and a half after practice just goofing around themselves on the diamond.”

McGregor added that most of the players will be moving on to the U18 level next season and is looking forward to their continued growth.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow