CANORA - As the snow melts ant the diamonds slowly dry out, Canora Minor Ball is looking forward to an action-packed 2023 season.
“Currently we have 68 players registered in softball and 114 players registered in baseball for a total of 182 registrations this season,” said Brigitte Herriges, secretary.
In girls softball, there are 14 players in the U11 age group, 33 in U13, 21 in U15, and 11 in U17.
For baseball, there are 26 players in Junior Rally Cap (6U), 21 players in Senior Rally Cap (8U), 24 in 11U, 16 in 13U, 15 in 15U, and 12 players for the 18U team.
There are two teams each in Junior Rally Cap (6U), Senior Rally Cap (8U) and 11U baseball, and U15 softball due to the larger numbers of players in those age groups. All other age groups have one team each.
On the baseball side, handling the head coaching duties for the 6U Junior Rally Cap Team 1 will be Blare Stewart, assisted by Gillian Rice and Paige deMossaic. Team 2 in the 6U age group will be coached by Derek Friesen, with Aaron Herriges and Curtis Baillie as assistants.
Parker Rice will be the head coach for 8U Senior Rally Cap Team 1, and Heidi Unick is the assistant coach. The 8U Team 2 will be coached by Brigitte Herriges, who will be assisted by Jodie Kowalyshyn.
Moving up to 11U baseball, Team 1 coach is Brendan Skibinsky. Jessica Skibinsky is the assistant coach and Tyler Craig is the team manager. Team 2 will be coached by Curtis Chabun, aided by Melissa Pozniak, assistant coach. Chrystal Olynyk is team manager.
The 13U team will be coached by Dayne Babchichin. Assistant coaches are Corey Heshka and Darcy Rewakowsky, with Kim Wolkowski serving as team manager.
Sean Patterson will coach the 15U team, assisted by Kerry Trask. Amanda Zbitniff will handle managerial duties.
The head coach of the 18U Canora Reds is Graham Lamb, with Kelly McTavish helping out as assistant coach. Team manager is Jodie Kowalyshyn.
On the softball side, Terry Wilson is head coach of the U11 team, with Lauren Mentanko as assistant coach. Kim Wolkowski is the team manager.
The U13 team will be coached by Chris Simon, along with assistant coach Aimee Ruf. The team manager is Amanda Zbitniff.
The U15 Team 1 staff includes: head coach Travis Mentanko, assistant coach Amy Nordin, and manager Carmen Wolkowski. The head coach for U15 Team 2 is Jennifer Lizuck, with assistant coach Trish Hauber and manager Shannon Unick helping out.
The U17 Softball coach is Valerie Caza, and the team manager is Sherri Roebuck.
Herriges said preparations for the new season are well underway.
“The older age categories (11U and up) started indoor practices on April 18 with softball on Tuesdays and Thursdays and baseball on Mondays and Wednesdays.”
This schedule is expected to continue until May 8, when it is hoped that the diamonds will be dry enough to move to the sports grounds.
In addition to the indoor practises, the Canora Minor Baseball Association has also been offering player and pitching clinics for baseball and softball. Canora Supers pitcher, Kody Rock, has been assisting with baseball, particularly the 11U age group where player development is especially important. Also, a softball pitching/player clinic was to be held on April 29 at the Canora Civic Centre.
The first games of the new season in Canora are scheduled to begin the second week in May, with Yorkton at Canora in 13U baseball action on May 8. There are two games on May 10; a 15U game with Keeseekoose at Canora, and Norquay visiting Canora in an 18U contest.
In what might be the highlight of the first week, on March 12 it will be an all-Canora affair with 11U Team 1 squaring off against Team 2.
Canora Minor Ball Day is scheduled for Saturday, June 10.
“This will be one of our primary fundraisers and we anticipate a good turnout for teams and fans! The plan is to have all baseball and softball teams to play one game on this day,” said Herriges.
“We are excited about the increase in registrations. In 2019, we had 72 registrations in baseball, which increased to 97 last year, and now 114. In softball, we have increased from 49 last season to 68 this year.”
The Canora Minor Ball fundraising committee continues to iron out the details regarding plans for additional fundraisers during the upcoming season.
