John MacNeil
Daily Herald
As much as they appreciated winning their final game of the season, the Prince Albert Royals were reflective on an emotional Sunday that marked the end of the minor baseball line for graduating 18U AA players.
That senior class, including six hometown players who have played together since they were kids, stepped up to the plate admirably as the Royals hosted the Western Canadian championship at Andy Zwack Field in Prince Albert.
The Royals went 2-2 in the five-team tournament and came close to earning a berth in the championship game, which saw the Estevan (Sask.) Brewers defeat Manitoba’s Elmwood Giants 19-5 as the finale was pushed to Sunday evening completion because of a rain-and-hail delay.
Prince Albert took gold-medal-winning Estevan to the eighth inning before losing 15-14 in an entertaining three-hour game Saturday night. As much as it was a heartbreaking loss for the Royals, it showed that they were much more than token hosts.
And they held their heads high Sunday in crushing the winless Chestermere (Alta.) Crushers 13-1 in five innings.
“Today was like a big deal,” said Jackson Anderson, one of Prince Albert’s graduating players. “It was like our last game (of minor ball) together.
“This team has been together for a long time. Since 2019, for most of the core 2008-born guys. That year, we won it in Kindersley in 11U, and we’ve all been just playing ball together since.”
That cohesion was evident as the players mingled with each other and family members for an extended period after Sunday’s game. The Royals battled with the best in the West all weekend.
The 18U AA Prince Albert Royals posted a 2-2 record as hosts of the Western Canadian AA baseball championship this past weekend at Andy Zwack Field. In the front row (from left) are Danny Acorn, Owen Tolley-Procyk, Jaxson Robertson, Jackson Anderson and Tye Semenchuk. In the back row (from left) are Alex Moose, Braxten Kucheler, Luke Pauls, Declan Borthwick, Easton Leishman, Kole
McGregor and Carter Martin. Missing from the photo are Blake Carlson and Declan Lavallee
“Yeah, definitely,” said Anderson, whose fellow seniors from Prince Albert were Carter Martin, Kole McGregor, Jaxson Robertson, Tye Semenchuk and Owen Tolley-Procyk, all recent graduates of Carlton Comprehensive High School.
“We exceeded our expectations. We took Estevan to extra innings (Saturday). It was definitely one of the best games we’ve played in a while. We would like to have won that one, but it was pretty good that we made it so far and we got those (two) wins.”
In their opening game of the tournament, the Royals defeated the eventual silver-medallist, Elmwood, 11-10 in a dramatic walk-off victory Friday. In the first of Prince Albert’s two games Saturday, the Royals suffered a 9-2 loss to the North Delta Rays of British Columbia.
Then, in one of the most memorable baseball games played in P.A. in years, the Royals and Estevan traded
leads, hits, errors and game-saving plays all night long before the Brewers prevailed in walk-off fashion.
“Yeah, if it would have gone a little differently in the extra-inning game, we’d be in the final, if it would have shook out like it did this morning against Alberta,” Prince Albert coach Troy Semenchuk said Sunday.
“When you have a tournament like this, and you have a host team, a lot of times they maybe don’t get the respect that teams that have earned their way in get. We proved that we belong here, and we were maybe one run away, or one out away, from being in the final.
“It’s tough, but we’re super proud of the kids, of the young men. In three of our four games, we scored over 10 runs (in each). One game, the bats went cold. But they never gave up. They’re scrappy kids. They won’t quit.”
Familial connections were prominent with the Royals as the coaching staff included four of the players’ fathers and one player’s brother. Kole McGregor’s father Graham and brother Carson are coaches, along with Troy Semenchuk (Tye’s dad), Corey Borthwick (Declan and Criseyde) and Jim Robertson (Jaxson).
“Josh Martin, Carter Martin’s father, didn’t coach with us this year but he’s been with us in years past, so lots of connections,” said coach Semenchuk.
“It’s an emotional one, for sure, today. We’ve been with these kids since they were five (years old). It’s going to be really weird not coming to the ball park anymore.
“When you say that the kids have grown up with us, I think a lot of us coaches have grown up with the kids, too. It’s kind of a two-way street. We’ve learned a lot from each other. It works both ways.”
The Royals broadened their extended family for the Western championship as they picked up four players from the Sask Five Giants program out of the Martensville-Warman area. Braxten Kuchler, Easton Leishman and Luke Pauls contributed all weekend, while Blake Carlson pitched Friday’s victory before leaving for a previously planned trip to Toronto to watch the Blue Jays face the New York Yankees.
“The Sask Five guys fit in really well with our guys,” Semenchuk said. “I did comment to our guys that everyone were just really good teammates this weekend.”
When regular second baseman Kole McGregor suffered his tournament-ending ankle injury while scoring a run in the Royals’ initial win, Anderson moved into that position for two games and Tye Semenchuk for one.
These are heady days for all of the young players who made up the 18U AA Royals. For example, McGregor is beginning his kinesiology studies on the road to becoming a sports therapist, Anderson is already apprenticing as part of his electrical construction program, and Semenchuk is delving into education studies online while also pursuing junior A hockey with the Manitoba league’s Neepawa Titans.
Semenchuk, a forward, signed with Neepawa this spring after playing the past season with the U18 AAA Yorkton Maulers. He heads to the Titans’ training camp in early September.
“Hopefully, I can stick up there and have a good season,” said Semenchuk, whose fellow Neepawa prospects include Prince Albert Mintos’ goaltending graduate Wyatt Nelson.
“I’m excited for junior. It’ll be good. Every day is like a tryout, so I’ll try to do something to keep me around another day, every day.”
Wherever his athletic and academic road leads, the 18-year-old Semenchuk will carry with him fond memories of baseball in Prince Albert, especially the Royals’ respectable showing in the Western tournament.
“Yeah, it was great for the town,” he said. “It was good that we could show that we’ve got good baseball here. Westerns brought a lot of people together. It’s great to have everyone here. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Speaking of fun, Saskatchewan champion Estevan capped a dream season by winning the Western title late Sunday. The Brewers took a 14-4 lead into the prolonged rain delay that followed the third inning, and they went on to hammer Manitoba representative Elmwood 19-5.
In the overall standings, Estevan finished at 4-1, while Elmwood was 3-2, Prince Albert and North Delta each were 2-2, and Chestermere was 0-4.
