The P.A. 13U Royals beging to celebrate after the final out of the provincial championship game on July 23, 2023. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By paNOW Staff

CHAMPIONS!!!

P.A. Royals 13U team wins provincial title at home

Jul 23, 2023 | 7:32 PM

In front of a raucous hometown crowd, the 13U Prince Albert Royals claimed gold in provincials.

The team won the deciding game 3-0 over the North East Expos on Sunday.

Head coach of the 13U Royals Jason Van Otterloo said the win is a culmination of the past 365 days of hard work, referring to last year’s provincials and how he encouraged the team to work hard and prepare for this moment at home.

He said having the home field advantage worked for the team.

“It is really nice when you walk onto that mound and you know everything around you, there’s no new sites, no new things around you. Home field advantage in the mental comfort was really big.”

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Throughout the round-robin and playoffs, the team’s pitching was outstanding allowing one run in the semi-final against Lumsden and shutting out the Expos in the championship game.

The 13U Royals with their gold medals and championship plaque. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

“Baseball at this age is all about who you have for pitchers,” said Van Otterlook. “We made the choice three years ago to make sure all 12 kids can pitch so that when Sunday rolls around, I haven’t burnt my two best pitchers.”

The team also lit it up offensively, winning the first game of the tournament 36-2, the second game 12-3 and the third game 29-3.

With the provincial win, the 13U Royals will be heading to Western canadian Championships in Kelowna next month.

Van Otterloo said to prepare for that tournament, they’ll play some exhibition games against AAA teams in Saskatoon. Before that, they will take some time to rest their players dealing with injuries.

Regrardless of the outcome at Westerns, Van Otterloo said it has been his pleasure to coach this team.

“Watching these kids at 13 years old feel the pressure and not cave is such a sign of maturity for them,” he said. “It’s been such a team effort. I look over at those kids, the memories they’re making from this is going to last forever and there’s not a kid on that team I’d trade for somebody else.”

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow