Even after capturing the Baseball Saskatchewan Under-11 Tier 3 Provincial Title in Unity on July 25, everyone involved with the Prince Albert Under-11 Royals was still eager to get back out on the diamond.
“I can tell you that it was still a bit of a surreal for the whole team for a couple of days after we got back to Prince Albert,” Royals head coach Jason Van Otterloo said.
“I ran into a couple of parents on the street and they were asking me, ‘Are you sure we don’t have any more baseball games this year?’ I think it took a little bit for that accomplishment to sink in for all of us.”
It was a busy season for the Under-11 Royals program, who were unable to compete in a provincial tournament in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Once everything was approved for having games again, our schedule was fast and furious,” said Van Otterloo, who was joined on the Royals coaching staff by Nathan Noble, Terry Lysack, Chris Dallyn and Mike Bonthoux.
“We had a lot of games with teams here in the northeast, but it wasn’t close to the amount that we would normally have in a season, even with a lot of doubleheaders.”
Heading into the provincials, which ran from July 23-25, the Royals had only faced one of their potential six opponents.
“We had played the Humboldt Dodgers right at the start of the year, but that wasn’t really a good scouting opportunity as we were only a couple of games into our season and they were playing their first games,” Van Otterloo said.
“Whenever Unity hosts a provincial championship, you know that they are going to have a very good team, so we expected them to be a strong contender. Other than that though, we were kind of flying by the seat of our pants at times.”
After picking up a 4-1 win over the Watrous Lakers and a 12-2 triumph over the Kindersley Royals in round-robin play, the Under-11 squad qualified for the final with an impressive 10-0 victory over the Sandhills River Rats.
“We had some kids that really stepped up and did a great job during the weekend,” Van Otterloo said. “During our semifinal game, Markus Exner was one batter away from a perfect game and I think he could have finished all six innings if we needed him too, as he had only thrown 38 pitches.
“To have a performance like that in a tournament is always a relief as a coach, as pitching plays such a huge part in having a successful tournament. The way the guys pitched all weekend is probably what allowed us to have a good weekend.”
The championship match against the Humboldt Dodgers was a close game until the fifth inning, the Royals moved out in front for good with three runs.
“That was the first go-around at a provincial final for our entire roster, so you could tell they were squeezing their bats a little tight early on,” Van Otterloo said.
“When we got to the fifth inning, that was the third time that our lineup had gone up against their starting pitcher, and we took advantage of that by getting single after single. Nash Noble had five perfect innings of near perfect ball and our closer (Jet Miller) shut things down for us in the final frame.”
While the Royals were in their first provincial event, the team has been together for the last couple of seasons and is now preparing to move up to the Under-13 ranks next year.
“Everyone on the team was born in 2010,” Van Otterloo said.
“It’s been exciting to see them start at this level and I think we’re going to see some really good ball from them in the future.”
