The Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Legacy Twins have finalized their roster for the 2011 season and six ball players from the area made the cut for the midget AAA squad.
Estevan's Tyler Kendall, Austin Orsted, Tanner Odgers and Jolan Lingelbach are on the 16-man roster, along with Austin Halladay of Roche Percee and Lucas Lafrentz of Bienfait.
Kendall and Halladay are third-year midgets, with the others being first-years.
"We've got a pretty strong team," said Odgers. "We're fairly young but if we're determined enough, we've got a good enough team to go somewhere this year."
Kendall is a member of the Vauxhall Jets academy squad in Alberta and won't be available to the Twins until the spring league season ends. He will suit up for the midgets at a June tournament in Lewistown, Mont., and join the team full-time by the first of July.
The middle infielder played for Saskatchewan at last year's Baseball Canada Cup in Kindersley and will be the starting shortstop when he returns. He has committed to Monterey Peninsula College in California for next season.
Twins head coach Tom Copeland expects Kendall to be one of the best players in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League.
"Tyler is a five-tool player who simply needs to work on his consistency at the plate and being a more fluent fielder. By all accounts he has done so (at Vauxhall)."
Halladay will patrol centre field for the Twins. Copeland said he does not boast explosive speed but can cover a lot of ground.
"He's not the quickest kid in the world, but he's played a lot of games out there the last two years. We've made him into a baseball player," the coach said.
"We've got big hopes for his bat. We've done a lot of work on making him a better swinger. He's just got to get consistent contact and focus out there and he'll be fine."
Halladay will spend most of his plate appearances near the top of the order or behind the middle of the lineup.
Orsted was a member of the Saskatchewan 15-year-old development roster last season and is seen as a rising talent in the province.
The Twins have big plans for Orsted, who is the team's No. 2 pitcher to start the season. He will mostly play the left side of the infield when not on the mound. Saskatchewan Baseball sees Orsted as a future second baseman, so he will also log some time there.
He will bat either in the two-hole or in the fifth-sixth-seventh range.
"He's got a really good bat. He hits singles. He's got a good plane through the zone," Copeland said of Orsted.
Odgers will be a valuable asset to the Twins because of his speed.
"I think it's the main reason I made the team and I just want to use it every chance I get," he said.
"I do pretty well around the bases. That's probably my strongest asset. I'm not too much of a power hitter, but I can get on base."
Copeland said Odgers is the fastest player on the team and that addresses a need.
Odgers will spend most of his time in left field and hitting lead-off.
The Twins see potential in Lingelbach's bat and feel he could eventually hit in the meat of the order.
"He's got a really good bat," said Copeland. "The key to Jolan's game is to continue to develop his power by getting fitter and stronger."
Lingelbach will play mostly in left field and at third base, but he'll also spend time in the battery as a long reliever and back-up catcher.
"He's one of our diamonds in the rough, for sure," Copeland added.
Lafrentz made the team for his natural athletic ability and will be used as a utility player to start. He could see time at first, third, shortstop and in the outfield.
"He's got a lot of work to do - we have to rebuild his swing - but we have high hopes for him. He's going to get stronger," Copeland said.
