Team: Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast RoyalsLeague/division: Prairie Midget Baseball League/midget AAA2009: N/A - The Royals are a new team formed after the AAA programs in Estevan and Weyburn chose to merge earlier this year. Estevan was 9-10-4 (5th place) and Weyburn was 8-13-2 (8th place) last year.
Head coach: Laurie WalbaumRoster: Kris Keating, Tyler Kendall, Austin Halladay, Zach Rensby, and Jarrett Phillips are the Estevan players on the roster
Key dates: April 25 -season opener, 7-6 W over Moose Jaw May 1 -home opener at Weyburn vs. Humboldt May 11 - home opener at Estevan vs. Regina Angels July 25 - season finale at Weyburn vs. Swift Current
Of note: The Royals scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning for a come-from-behind 7-6 win over the hosts from Moose Jaw in their season opener Sunday.
Projection: "The thing with these guys is there's not a huge expectation on them to win, so everyone was playing pretty loose," assistant coach Tom Copeland said of the season opener.
Quotable: "You can accept all physical errors in world but when you start making mental mistakes, you can't accept that," Copeland said, pointing to the biggest need for improvement on an inexperienced team.
Team: Estevan Sherritt Coal Haulers
League/division: Baseball Regina/bantam AAA
2009: 4-13-1, 7th place out of 8 teams
Head coach: Mason Schick
Roster: A crop of talented second-year bantams are joined this year by four newcomers from the peewee ranks, most notably 3B/C/P Austin Kuchinka, who could emerge as the team's top pitcher
Key dates: Saturday -season opener doubleheader vs. Yorkton July 3 -season finale doubleheader vs. Melville July 16-18 -AA provincials at Yorkton Aug. 12-15 -Westerns at Newton, B.C.
Of note: Schick, the only first-year coach among Estevan's AA/AAA teams, played in two North Carolina state championships and five Saskatchewan provincial championships
Projection: "On my team schedule the 12th to the 15th of August I have written down for Westerns in Newton, B.C. and that's the goal for the year," said Schick. "We don't want to get too ahead of ourselves but we all pretty much know that this is our year provincials, that's our first goal but the ultimate goal is to go to Westerns."
Quotable: "We're gonna be fast. We're gonna be in your face. I've got a few little tricks that we're going to try and pull out. I've got a very talented ball team. I've got a lot of kids that know what they're doing so we're going to be pulling out all the stops."
Team: Estevan TS&M Tornadoes
League/division: Baseball Regina/peewee AAA
2009: 5-15-0, 8th place out of 8 teams
Head coach: Kent Phillips
Roster: The roster was finalized Sunday night and four players from last year's mosquito team that went 10-0 to start the season made the Tornadoes as first-year peewees.
Key dates: Schedule will be released this week.
Projection: "We should be a decent hitting team," said Phillips. "On the pitching end it's hard to tell, but once we get a couple games in, or at least some warmer weather so we can practice outdoors, we'll have a better idea."
Quotable: "We've got a couple kids I've never seen play ball before who are actually pretty decent ball players. They're both in their second years [of peewee] so I'm expecting big things out of them," said Phillips.
Team: Estevan KPC Sluggers
League/division: Baseball Regina/mosquito AAA
2009: 10-2-0, 1st place out of 5 teams
Head coach: Scott Stein
Roster: TBA. Stein says it will be young but will include two returnees from last year's team - Carter Kuchinka and Shae Little. Stein says Kuchinka, like his older brother Austin, could develop into one of the top pitchers in the league. Little, Brett MacMurchy, Logan King, and Jordan Stein are the other pitchers Coach Stein will turn to in the early going.
Key dates: Schedule will be released this week.
Projection: Stein plans to put his strongest players in the infield and coach his pitchers to throw low and inside to produce more ground balls. "We're in a complete rebuilding year this year it's going to be probably a trying year for parents and coaches and kids," Stein said with a laugh.
Quotable: "With the pitch count that's needed now, when we go to pick these teams, you have to look at a kid's arm more than his fielding skills," said Stein. "I hate to put it that way, but that's the way it's going."
