(Prince Albert Minor Baseball/Facebook)

By Derek Craddock

ROYALS PROVINCIALS

Royals 13U team optimistic following Tier 1 provincials

Jul 26, 2022 | 8:00 AM

It wasn’t the showing they hoped for, but the 13U Prince Albert Royals are still feeling proud after coming back from provincials.

The young team went winless at the tournament in Maidstone but as coach, Jason Van Otterloo, explained, there is plenty of room to learn and grow.

“We’re a really young team, we’re a team of first years. We went and competed at the top-level and we learned a lot about what we got to learn about for next year.”

The team played six games in the tournament against other clubs from Humboldt, Macklin, and Weyburn.

While the hitting may not have been there for the team, there was one area that stood out to the coach.

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“Our defence was first-rate this weekend. That’s one thing the kids worked on a lot all summer and it paid dividends on it,” Van Otterloo said.

He’s already looking forward to the years ahead.

“Lots of our potential sits in those first-year kids. When we got placed in the first tier, I thought this was going to be a big challenge for us but if nothing else, it showed all of those kids exactly where we need to go for next year. Pretty optimistic as far as how that’s looking for next year.”

Meanwhile, the 13U Tier 7 team also participated in provincials this past weekend, losing all three of their games to Saskatoon and Shellbrook.

The provincials wasn’t the only news coming from the Royals as they announced a new sponsor will be added to its name.

All 13U and 15U teams will be renamed the TLS Royals to acknowledge the support of TLS – The Landscaping Specialists on the Grand Slam Baseball Rebuild project.

Members of Prince Albert Minor Baseball and TLS announcing the new name sponsorship. (Prince Albert Minor Baseball/Facebook)

TLS is in charge of all earthwork and landscaping for the project and is providing all the work for the project as a 100 per cent in-kind donation.

The total value of the work is about $70,000.

“This project for the Royals baseball teams and Prince Albert Minor Baseball Association (PAMBA) is very meaningful and close to our hearts as we are all parents and have always encouraged our children to pursue extracurricular activities in our city,” said the CEO of TLS, Tim Scharkowski.

“We have always believed that the youth in Prince Albert deserve these facilities and as a company, we take pride in the fact that we can help PAMBA in mentoring the youth of our community.”

All 13U and 15U house league and provincial teams will wear the TLS insignia on the back of their jerseys starting in the 2023 season.

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derek.craddock@pattsionmedia

Twitter: @PA_Craddock