There will be plenty of baseball in Prince Albert to close out the month of July as the Prince Albert Minor Baseball Association (PAMBA) is set to host a pair of provincial championships at Kinsmen Baseball Complex and Andy Zwack Field.
The U13 AA Tier 1 provincials will kick off at the Kinsmen Baseball Complex on Friday while the U18 AA Tier II provincials will be hosted from July 29-31. PAMBA previously hosted the U11 AA Tier 7 provincials this past weekend.
PAMBA president Duane Krip says being awarded three provincial titles is a huge honor for the organization.
“It’s a huge thing to finally take our organization to the next level. In my recollection and many people that have been around baseball, we have never hosted any kind of provincial tournament in recent history, if possibly ever. This is a big step. We’ve made a lot of investment into our facilities to bring our facilities up to the level that we would be able to host events like this.”
PAMBA has made major steps in improving the baseball facilities in Prince Albert. $60,000 was committed to the Grand Slam Rebuild Project at Crescent Acres by the Prince Albert Kinsmen Club with funds being raised at the 2022 Kinsmen Dinner that featured special guest Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque.
Krip says the improvement in the facilities will allow Prince Albert to host several provincial championships in the years to come.
“That ballpark out at what is now Kinsmen Baseball Complex, formerly Crescent Acres, was a softball facility so they had three softball diamonds over there. And a couple of years ago, the city gave us the green light to convert that into a complete baseball facility. We now have two 13U diamonds and converted one of them into a regulation 15U diamond. Plus, we installed a double wide batting cage there as well this spring. We can go forward in hosting provincials. Hopefully, we will host at least one provincial every year in one of our divisions from here on out.”
After hosting the U11 provincials last weekend, Krip says it provided an opportunity for Prince Albert to gain a positive reputation throughout the provincial baseball scene.
“It’s a great thing for the community. It’s a great showcase for what we have done and the amount of work that our volunteer crew has put into developing and planning our facilities. Last week when we hosted the 11U tournament, there were a few families that had come in a day early and they were absolutely in awe of our facilities there. That’s a huge feather in our cap.”
U15 Royals finish season with provincial semi-final loss.
The U15 AA Royals season came to an end over the weekend with a 7-6 semi-final loss to the Lumsden Cubs. The Royals had gone 3-0 throughout round robin play.
