Saskatoon to host five provincial softball championships this weekend

Saskatoon hosted its first of three big provincial championship weekends this past week, producing numerous local qualifiers for out of province competitions.

It may come as a surprise to many people that Saskatchewan will send the second-most teams to Canadian championships this year, second only to Ontario. The male teams from the Saskatoon Minor Softball League A division made sure they got plenty of those national berths, qualifying five teams as a results of provincial play July 8-10 in Saskatoon.

Howard Heibert’s u-14 Selects team recovered from an early tournament loss to Prince Albert to beat them 10-5 in the gold-medal game. The Selects knew they were going to nationals as the host team but the win gives them valuable momentum coming into what will certainly be their toughest test by far. The two finalists will be joined by the Warman Panthers and Wadena Wildcats at nationals, starting Aug. 10 in Saskatoon.

The host team for the other nationals in Saskatoon was not so fortunate, as coach Scott Hudson’s U-18 Selects bowed out to the Prince Albert Astros 7-2 in the gold-medal game.

The U-16 boys final was a local affair with two teams from the SASA’s Bob Van Impe Division battling it out. Warman Poly Plus Pride defeated the U-16 Selects 13-8 to get Saskatchewan’s No. 1 seed going into nationals Aug. 10-14 in Owen Sound Aug. 10-14.  

The U-12A division, which does not send teams to nationals, was won by the Selects Fury who beat the Delisle Diamond Dogs in the final. Another Saskatoon team to medal in the locally hosted provincials was the U-12 Girls A division Saskatoon Hustlers, who lost to the Regina Lazers in the final. The Saskatoon Selects U-18 B Boy’s team also lost the provincial final to the Shellbrook Rangers in Canwood last Sunday.

Saskatoon and the SASA are set to host five very interesting adult provincial championships this weekend.

The best men’s players in province will compete in the five-team Senior A men’s provincials. Led by the pitching duo of Devon McCullough and Patrick Burns, the Saskatoon Angels should be considered the favourites. Interestingly McCullough and Burns squared off last weekend at the Boys of Summer Tournament in Denmark Wisconsin — one of the top ISC tournaments of the year. In the final game, Burns, playing for his ISC team J B Painting, hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning off McCullough who was playing for the A-1 Bombers. The shot helped create a tie that time restraints did not allow to be broken, thus forcing the teams to share first place.

Other Senior A teams include the always hard-hitting Bulyea Rustlers, who are rumoured to have added national teamer Scott Lieph to their pitching staff. The other non-local team will be the last year’s Senior C provincial men’s champs, Chetty Pretty Boys. Two other strong entrants will come out the Saskatoon Special Men’s Division. They will include the always tough Delisle National Leasing Diamond Dogs as well as the hottest team in the division Saskatoon Bridge City Sharks.

Coach Gary MacDonald will take his Lady Diamondbacks to U-21 B provincials after enjoying a great regular season so far in the SASA’s Bob Stayner Division. They hope to break rural Saskatchewan’s traditional dominance in this category.

The AGI Master men’s team will take on perennial rival Moose Jaw Giants in a best-of-five for the right to go the Masters Westerns in Hay River, NWT. 

The last two provincials include the highest level of women’s softball in our province the Senior B women’s as well as the U-21 Men’s A division.       

Mark Loehndorf is a Saskatoon freelance writer.