ESTEVAN - The Estevan TS&M U13 AA Brewers are eager to play their first game at the upcoming Western Canadian Baseball Championships, which will be held in Estevan from Aug. 18-21.
The Brewers will be the host team for the tournament. They will begin play on Aug. 19 at 8:30 a.m. against the Alberta representatives, the Camrose Cougars Royal. Then they play the B.C. champions, the North Langley Trappers, at 2 p.m.
Estevan will play Manitoba’s Pembina Hills on Aug. 20, starting at 11:15 a.m., and they will close out the round robin portion of their schedule at 4:45 p.m. against the top team from Saskatchewan, the Maidstone Lakers.
If a tie-breaker is needed, it will begin at 2 p.m. on Aug. 21 and the final will start at 4:45 p.m. If there isn’t a tie-breaker, then the final will begin at 2 p.m.
All of the games will be at Mel Murray Cactus Park.
“We’re looking strong,” said coach Darcy Henry. “We’ve been practising the last three weeks, getting ready for Westerns. The kids have had a good little break, they’re back on the field, getting ready to get back at it, and they can’t wait to play in the tournament.”
The Brewers have been working on the skills during their practices, and trying to improve their hitting, which Henry admits was their “Achilles’ heel” during the season.
Estevan went 1-2 at provincials, but outscored their opponents. The lone victory was in lopsided fashion and the two losses were close games. One of the defeats was against Maidstone.
“We’re looking forward to have a rematch against them in this tournament,” said Henry.
The Brewers have added three players, one from Weyburn and two from Tisdale – to strengthen the squad.
“We’re lucky to have them,” said Henry.
Maidstone is the only team that Henry is familiar with. As for the others, the B.C. team is from Langley, which Henry said is a baseball hotbed, so it will be a strong test on opening day.
“We’re expecting to see great baseball. Even though it’s AA, there’s still going to be some really good players from around Western Canada, and we can’t wait, with all of the teams being able to pick up a few players, I expect strong teams from the teams that are coming.”
He also expects the Brewers will be competitive.
“The beautiful thing about a tournament is everyone starts with a 0-0 record, and hopefully we have a good round robin and we’re playing Sunday for the championship.”
Henry expects the tournament will help players with their development because they will see what other teams are doing, and they get to compete against the other provinces.
And he hopes to see good crowds at the diamonds for all of the games.
“There’s a little bit of buzz around town for it, so hopefully everyone comes on down to support the Estevan team and Team Saskatchewan as well,” he said.
