The Prince Albert Royals with their gold medals. (Facebook/Prince Albert Minor Baseball)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Overcoming Adversity

‘I’m so proud of these boys’; P.A. Royals win 13U AA Western Baseball Championships

Sep 4, 2023 | 1:49 PM

It’s been a wild couple of weeks for the Prince Albert Royals.

They were in Kelowna last month for the 13U AA Western Canadian Baseball Championships but had to go home early as the tournament was cancelled due to the ongoing wildfire situation.

Fast forward to the Labour Day Long Weekend and the Royals find themselves hosting the Championship and end up winning the gold medal after beating the Consort Cubs out of Alberta 4-1.

“Going from gutted in Kelowna to top of the world. I’m so proud of these boys,” said Jason Van Otterloo, the Royals Head Coach.

The Royals played five games during the tournament, winning four of them. They ended up outscoring their opponents 48 to 29.

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Their pitching was dominant in their final two games as they allowed just one run.

“(Our pitchers) did what they’ve done all year for us, they threw the ball hard with lots of control,” said Van Otterloo.

Prince Albert Royals players after winning gold. (Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

The Championships only had four teams compete: the Royals, the Cubs, the Brandon Marlins (Manitoba), and the Northeast Expos which was mainly comprised of players from the Tisdale area. Two of the teams that had clinched spots declined to participate, while the host B.C. team was replaced by the Expos.

Heavy smoke from wildfires ended up pouring in on the tournament’s final day which led some to believe it may be cancelled or postponed. However, Van Otterloo said everyone was determined to play it out.

“We kind of felt, come hell or high water, we were getting some closures for these boys.”

To limit everyone’s overall exposure to the smoke, the semi-finals and gold medal game were played in just five innings instead of seven. A field in Saskatoon was also set aside in case the smoke got any worse.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow