Royals pitcher Nick "Top Corns" Dutchak (right) cracks a smile after a tidy three-up-three-down inning on June 1, 2022. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Baseball

Royals baseball set for record-setting season

Apr 26, 2023 | 4:00 PM

With opening day for baseball in Saskatchewan right around the corner, teams and organizations have been hard at work to get their players and fields ready to go for the upcoming season.

And Prince Albert, there will be more players on those diamonds than ever before.

According to Prince Albert Minor Baseball Association president Duane Krip, the organization is expecting a record number of players for the 2023 season.

“This will be our largest year ever for registrations,” he said. “It’s just been phenomenal the amount of support that the youth that want to play baseball in this city. As long as the weather cooperates which I believe it should, it always does every year, we’ll be hitting the ground running at the beginning of May.”

In March, PAMBA sent out a cry for help as the organization was in dire need for umpires as there were no certified umpires for the 18U division and only a handful of umps for 15U.

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Since then, PAMBA along with Baseball Saskatchewan have been hosting umping clinics in Prince Albert in an effort to increase the number of people calling games. As Krip explains, the camps drew quite a few people and everything is back on track.

“We a really great response from the community,” he said. “Former athletes like guys who used to play in their younger years who are now of that age where they got a little extra time on their hands and they want to get back into the sport, but now from behind the plate. We should be pretty good for the older divisions.”

Opening day for baseball in Prince Albert is slated for May 1.

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logan.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @lloganlehmann