Royals put bow on 2026 season following Western Championships

“I know sometimes coming into a tournament as the host, you maybe don’t get the respect that the teams that have earned their way in get. But man, we put up a fight.”

The 18U Royals put the other teams on notice after day one of the tournament on Friday when they walked off Manitoba’s Elmwood Giants, 11-10, who were actually a AAA team from Winnipeg.

That was then followed by a 9-2 defeat to B.C.’s North Delta Rays and a narrow 15-14 walk-off loss to Saskatchewan’s Estevan Brewers on Saturday, which mathematically eliminated P.A. from finals contention. They would redeem themselves on Sunday morning, though, in their final round-robin game, with a dominant 13-1 victory over Alberta’s Chestermere Crushers.

In tournaments sanctioned by the Western Canadian Baseball Association (WCBA), teams are allowed a maximum of 18 players on their roster. The Royals entered the championship with 12 players and picked up four players from the Sask Five Giants baseball program out of the Martensville area, which included Luke Pauls, Blake Carlson, Braxton Kuchler, and Easton Leishman.

“It’s never easy when you’re picking guys up, right? It changes the dynamic a little bit,” explained Semenchuk. “When you bring guys in, other guys are coming off the field and onto the bench, but everyone was a good teammate this weekend, fully supporting what we were doing and cheering for each other and just being good teammates.”

Following the final pitch, the Royals said goodbye to their six graduating players on the team, which included his son Tye. He said that he’s coached the group ever since they were five years old, adding he’s now most likely done with coaching.

“It’s hard when you lose a tight group of ‘08s like we are. It’s emotional.”

The graduating Royals from the 18U program. (Image Credit: Prince Albert Minor Baseball/Facebook)

Winning the 18U Western title was the Estevan Brewers, doing so with a commanding 19-5 win over the Elmwood Giants. Estevan also finished atop the standings with a 4-1 record with Elmwood in second at 3-2. They’re followed by the North Delta Rays and the Royals who tied for third at 2-2, while Chestermere went winless at 0-4.

The Crushers were a shell of what they were during the Alberta provincial championships, as a number of their key players were absent in Prince Albert. That’s due to age restrictions because in Alberta 18U, players who are 19 years old are still eligible to play, meaning the overagers who helped Chestermere win provincials weren’t allowed to play at the Western tournament under WCBA rules.

As a result, Chestermere not only finished last, but they also had the worst run differential across all three tournaments at -50.

The 18U Royals high five one another for the last time following their final game at the AA Western Canadian Baseball Championships in P.A. on Aug. 16, 2026. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

The 13U Royals team ended their Western run in a three-way tie for third following a 1-3 outing in their tournament.

P.A. finished with the same record as Saskatchewan’s Humboldt Dodgers and Manitoba’s Winnipeg South Wolves. However, due to run differential, the Royals technically finished last in the standings with a -34 difference, while Humboldt placed fourth with -21 and Winnipeg scoring bronze at -5.

Head coach of the 13U Royals Tommy Hurd said despite what the scoreboard and stats say about the weekend, the end results don’t tell the full story.

“You got to remember, this is five of the best teams in Western Canada here, right? We stuck with them and we won one game – we were in every game to be fair. At this level, even if your pitchers are doing well, there’s the occasion where they’re going to get hit around and you have to make plays and battle to get the outs, but we played very well this weekend.”

Royals’ Kody Kulczycki knocked a single on this hit against the Humboldt Dodgers during Saturday morning’s round robin contest at the AA Western Canadian Baseball Championship. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

The Royals dropped their tournament opener on Friday to B.C.’s White Rock Tritons, 14-4, before getting into the win column Saturday morning with a narrow 15-14 triumph over Humboldt. They faced off against Alberta’s Sylvan Lake Mariners in their third game later that afternoon which got away from towards the end, as a 13-run sixth inning sunk P.A.’s championship hopes with the final score ending 22-7.

The same thing happened in their closing game against Winnipeg on Sunday morning, where a combined eleven runs in the last two innings put the game out of reach for the Royals in an 18-8 final.

Hurd said at least it was nice to get a win over their provincial rival.

“We were up in that game and we had an inning where there was a little bit of a weight on us but our boys hung in there, and we worked really hard this season on the mental side of the game and staying in games when that stuff starts to happen and they stuck with it, came through and they ended up pulling that one off.”

Claiming gold in 13U was Sylvan Lake, who knocked off White Rock in a thrilling 17-14 final. The two each had the same 4-1 record when it was all said and done, as the Tritons came into the finals undefeated with the best run differential across all three Western Championships at +46.

13U Royals coach Tommy Hurd (left) gets down on one knee to talk with his team one last time following the final out of their last game at the AA Western Canadian Baseball Championships. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

Finally, the 15U Royals struck out this weekend by going winless in their tournament.

Prince Albert ended their Western run at 0-4, and head coach Matt Gray said despite the results, it’s impossible to not be proud of the effort the team put in.

“We knew this would be all provincial winners that came to us, and we knew the quality of ball would be really good. Apart from one game, we were competitive in everything. I have no disappointment in this weekend.”

The Royals opened the tournament with a 17-3 defeat to Manitoba’s Red River Valley Pioneers on Friday, with the following losses being:

16-6 to B.C.’s Carnarvon Reds (Saturday morning)
13-3 to Saskatchewan’s Western Dust Devils (Saturday evening)
11-5 to Alberta’s Grande Prairie Reds (Sunday morning)

“Everybody played very well and we competed, that’s all you can ask for as a coach,” continued Gray. “I thought I have a young team that really grew over the weekend, and even more we had a lot of fun.”

Royals pitcher Reed Balas (#7) looks to throw one for a strike as first baseman James Schultz (#3) keeps the runner close against the Grande Prairie Reds. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

Winning 15U Western’s was Grande Prairie with a 10-7 victory over the Western Dust Devils.

Across all three tournaments, the Reds were the only ones who went undefeated throughout with a perfect 5-0 record. The Dust Devils, who are based out of Luseland, finished second at 3-2, which capped off a season where they went 47-5 overall. Placing third at 2-2 was Carnarvon, while fourth was Red River Valley at 1-3.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

by Logan Lehmann

Royals put bow on 2026 season following Western Championships

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