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By Logan Lehmann

Aiming for the crown

Local ball teams prepare for provincials this weekend

Jul 16, 2025 | 4:56 PM

Nearly a handful of local baseball and softball teams are off to provincials this weekend, with one team gearing up to host.

The U15 Prince Albert Royals are set to welcome seven teams to the city for the 15U AA Tier 1 Provincial Championships, which will be played at Kinsmen Baseball Complex in Crescent Acres and Andy Zwack Field in Prime Ministers Park.

Head Coach of the team Jason Van Otterloo said the team is ready to make some noise.

“We put a lot of work into this season, and we’re just gunning. We’re operating pretty high intensity right now in practice and the boys are anxious, they want to get this on the road.”

The U15 Royals claimed a gold medal at a tournament in Moose Jaw earlier this season. (Prince Albert Minor Baseball/Facebook)

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The team will host the Moose Jaw Canucks, Western Dust Devils, Saskatoon Cardinals, Weyburn Beavers, Northern Jays, Sask East Diamond Jaxx, and Lumsden Cubs.

Van Otterloo was the coach of the U13 AA Royals team that won provincials two years ago and also went to Westerns in Kelowna, which were eventually cancelled due to wildfires and brought to Prince Albert for a rescheduled tournament.

He said this U15 team is nearly identical to that U13 team that won Westerns two years ago.

“It’s a very similar team, they’ve got a lot of experience in this sort of situation.”

He added that a trip to Westerns is on the line this weekend, with this year’s tournament being played in St. Albert, Alta.

The Royals will kick off their run on Friday at 3 p.m. at Crescent Acres against Moose Jaw.

U11 Royals heading south, U17 Aces in Rosthern

In other action around the province this weekend, a pair of U11 Royals teams will try to capture the provincial crown while the U17 Prince Albert Aces will try to do the same against many competitors.

One of the U11 Royals squads will be in Humboldt for the Tier 1 provincial tournament, which includes the Humboldt Dodgers, Saskatoon Jr. Braves, Weyburn Beavers, Battleford Beavers, Moose Jaw Canucks, Kindersley Royals, White Butte Broncos, and Yorkton Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the other team will be in Kindersley for Tier 7 provincials and will be joined by the host Royals, along with Yorkton, Humboldt, the Saskatoon Banana A’s, Sask Central River Pirates, Saskatoon Bridge City Braves, Saskatoon Cardinal Trash Pandas, and Delisle Tigers.

The U11’s in Tier 1 begin play at 4:30 p.m. Friday against Moose Jaw, while the Royals in Tier 7 face off with Delisle in the tournament’s opening contest at 11 a.m. on Friday.

In softball, the Prince Albert Aces will fight 20 other teams from across Saskatchewan in the small towns of Rosthern and Hague.

P.A. will play in the Orange Pool alongside the Saskatoon Selects Storm, East Central Wolverines, Swift Current Sonic, and Regina Royals Roadrunners.

The Aces begin their run bright and early on Friday at 8:15 a.m. in Rosthern against Saskatoon.

The U17 Aces brought home a silver medal from the Battle of the Border in Lloydminster last month. (PAMSA-Prince Albert Minor Softball Association/Facebook)

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social