It was a bit of a rush, but the Prince Albert Minor Baseball Association is ready.
Prince Albert plays host to the 11U AA Tier 6 Saskatchewan Baseball Provincial Tournament this weekend at Mair Park. The Prince Albert 11U Royals will face seven other teams this weekend, but for organizers, just getting it off the ground has been a relief.
“It’s very exciting to have the kids out to host here in Prince Albert,” PAMBA President and 11U Royals Head Coach Nathan Noble said. “We were asked (to host) late. There wasn’t a host for this age group and tier, and so we did get the request late but we’re happy to have everybody. We put a little work into our diamonds and the weather’s holding up so far.”
Teams played through sweltering temperatures on Friday before the Opening Ceremony at 6 p.m. Noble credited their team of volunteers for helping make the event happen.
“We’ve been here at the diamond almost every day … doing a little bit of work here and there, but we’ve put in quite a few hours getting them ready,” he explained.
“The volunteers are super important. You can’t host these kinds of thing without it. We have board members helping out in different capacities and we have all the parents of all our athletes here helping out today, so it’s very good to have them. It makes the event real smooth.”
Winning isn’t the main goal at the 11U level, but the Prince Albert Royals did get off to a strong start. The Royals opened up a big lead over the Eston 11U Ramblers and never looked back, winning 12-2 in the tournament’s opening game at noon.
“It was good to get that first win under your belt and to get the kids into provincials,” Noble said. “Sometimes you never know what their nerves will be like but they played very well and so we were very happy with the first day.”
The Kipling Royals and Turtleford Tigers join Eston and Kipling in Pool A this weekend. The Edam Blue Sox, Lengenburg Miners, Gull Lake Greyhounds, and Wilkie Brewers round out Pool B.
First and second in each pool advance to the playoffs on Sunday, with the Gold Medal Game scheduled for 3 p.m.
This is the first of three weekends Prince Albert hosts provincial baseball this summer. Prince Albert will also host 13U AA Tier 4 provincials on July 24-26, plus the AA Minor Western Canadian Tournament for 13U, 15U, and 18U AA Tier 1 Provincial Champions on Aug. 14-16.
In other minor baseball action, the Prince Albert 13U Royals are on the road this weekend. They travel to Nipawin for a doubleheader against the Giants on Saturday. Game one starts at 1:30 p.m.
Prince Albert’s two 18U AA teams will also meet on the diamond. The Prince Albert Royals and Prince Albert Padres play a doubleheader at Andy Zwack Field on Saturday. Game times are 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
While the U11 Tier 6 Royals host provincials in Prince Albert, the Tier 1 team travels to North Battleford for their provincial tournament. The 15U AA Royals also travel to provincials in Martensville.
