Swan River has achieved success when it comes to connecting youth with the desire to play baseball. The Swan River U11 Blue and Grey Royals Teams worked hard all season to Provincials on June 22.
“Both Swan River teams had a very successful regular season with the Blue Royals at 5-2 and the Grey Royals at 4-3,” said Swan River U11 Blue Royals Head Coach Aaron Goethe. “The baseball season is short, but it’s amazing to see how the kid’s knowledge of the game and skills progress in only a couple of months.
“We even had several kids in the gym in April learning how to pitch. With the current pitch count regulations from Baseball Manitoba, you need a lot of players with the ability to pitch just to get through a tournament weekend.”
The weather has been less than cooperative for almost any league to play in Provincials. The wind gusts and rain led to the U11 Provincials having to be stretched out over the week, rather than the weekend.
“Unfortunately, the weather did impact the games on the weekend,” said Goethe. “The rain held off on Friday night and we were able to play, however, all the games were cancelled on Saturday due to rain, delaying the schedule. Saturday games were pushed to Sunday, and the Sunday semis and finals were pushed to Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The teams were excited going into regionals, looking forward to playing against teams that they hadn’t faced all year. The Blue Royals’ first game was against an undefeated Dauphin Cargill team. The kids played really well that game and were able to keep the game close until the fifth inning when Dauphin scored four runs, eventually winning the game 6-1. Our pitching and defence kept us in the game against Cargill, some of the best efforts we had seen from the kids this year.
“Our second game was against the Grey Royals, which was unfortunate because you hope to play teams outside of your division, it’s even worse when you’re playing your buddies from your hometown. It was an offensive battle, however the Blue Royals ended up with the win 22-8.
“The last game in our pool was against Dauphin Eastside, which all of our coaches agreed was the most memorable game of the entire season,” said Goethe. “We were able to hold the lead for most of the game until Dauphin made a late charge in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game 6-6. Jacob Sigurdson did a fantastic job on the mound shutting down the Dauphin bats and ending their late rally.
“In the bottom of the sixth, Carter Rosteski and Beckett Anderson were able to make their way onto the bases and would eventually put themselves into scoring position for Lily Ashcroft, who delivered a walk-off base hit to left field ending Dauphin’s season and putting us into the semifinals against the Grandview Lakers.
“The semifinal game was played on Monday evening, and despite the best efforts of the kids, the hot-hitting Lakers would eventually win the game 10-5,” said Goethe.
The Swan River U11 Grey Royals were eager to take the field at Provincials but had a hard time keeping their stamina. The Grey Royals put forth their best effort and will see five players move on to play baseball at a more competitive level.
“The Grey Royals had high expectations heading into regionals but they did not meet the desired outcome,” said Swan River U11 Grey Royals Head Coach Len Woitowicz. “They lost all three games. The first was the Eastside Dauphin by a score of 12-8. Sunday didn’t fare well for the Grey Royals either, losing to Blue Royals 22-8 and then losing to SFS Dauphin 13-8. It wasn’t their weekend for ball but, as a young squad, they gained valuable experience and will be ready for next year’s regionals.
“The kids played fantastic all weekend, with both great individual efforts and team play. The main goal at this age is to have fun and to build as a team, and then let the competitive nature of the players take over from there. You know it’s been a successful season when you have kids asking to play more baseball.”