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The Marysburg Royals will try and stake their claim as the top team in Saskatchewan this weekend as they compete in the Senior AA Tier Provincial 1 Championships in Saskatoon.
This year’s event will feature seven teams including the Royals, which is something that Curtis Strueby of the Royals is pleased with.
“It’s a good sign for senior baseball at our level in our province,” he said, “should be a good competitive weekend.”
In the regular season of the Saskatoon Senior Baseball League (SSBL), the Royals sit on top of the standings with a 13-5 record, despite dropping their last three games. Strueby gave credit to the Saskatoon Outlaws who picked up a pair of those wins but isn’t worried about the recent slide.
“All year long we've been consistent in all facets of the game and hope to carry that on into this weekend.”
Pitching is also a key factor at Provincial Championships, regardless of what age level and Strueby feels the Royals have the arms that can silence their opponent’s bats, led by Thomas Lessmeister.
“He (Lessmeister) gives us a lot of big innings and he's giving us a lot of big games over the last number of years.”
Strueby added that Brody Frerichs, Joel Bauml and Nick Anderson are some of the other pitchers that the Royals will rely on this weekend.
Joining the Royals are the Outlaws and Saskatoon Hoppers. Rounding out the field are the Regina Trappers, Regina Rockies, Carlyle Cardinals, and Unity Cardinals. The Royals haven’t faced any of the teams outside of Saskatoon this year, but Strueby noted they’re quite familiar with most of their opponents from prior battles on the diamond.
“We’ve played them a number of times over the last few years, and we know what they’re going to bring.”
The newest opponent for the Royals at the province’s top tournament is Unity.
“They’ve been a young and up and coming team in the last few teams and they have won the Tier 2 Championship the last couple of years,” said Strueby, “Kind of excited to face them.”
Marysburg opens the tournament against Unity on Friday morning at 10 am. The Royals second game is also the first game on Saturday morning against the Outlaws. Strueby thinks playing the opening games isn’t a disadvantage.
“We're going to have a good idea where we sit compared to everyone else when we're done.”
The one team in the Royals pool that they won’t meet in the round-robin is the Regina Trappers.
If a tiebreaker is required following the round-robin, that game will take place on Saturday afternoon.
The top two teams from each pool will advance to the championship round on Sunday, with the semifinals and the Gold Medal Game slated for 4:00 pm.
All the games will take place at Leakos Field this weekend.
Following the Provincial Championships, the Royals will return to home turf as they host the SSBL Playoff Championship beginning on Saturday, August 9 and wrapping up the next day.