The much-anticipated start to the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League season is about 10 days away, meaning it is time to see what all the hype and excitement is about.
Who is back with what team? What are the strengths of each team? And will the Lloydminster Meridian Twins repeat as league champions?
All those questions will be answered throughout the season, but for now this is the first part of the NSRBL season preview featuring three local teams.
North Battleford Beavers: The Beavers have had one brief practice this season and are getting set for another year of senior baseball. Their 7-6 season came to an end last year after an even and competitive series against Wilkie eliminated the Beavers from the playoffs once again. North Battleford appears on the verge of taking the next step and announcing themselves as one of the elite teams in the league. Consistency will be key for the Beavers throughout the 14-game regular season and from there they may be poised to make a long run in the playoffs.
Main guys from the Beavers' core group include Ryan Shepherd, Rory Gregoire, Jared Inkster, Brad Eischen, Tyler Russell, Bryce Gatzke and Brennan Lampitt will all be back this season.
The one question mark for the Beavers is how many games their three top pitchers will make this season. Kyle Gregoire, Aaron Huber and Matt Benson will all have an opportunity to pitch when they can make it to games and all give the Beavers great chances to win when they are on their games.
Darrin Russell, Chance Rogers and Aaron Cadrin will not be playing to start the season, but there are a couple new players. Some midget players are also moving up with the Beavers this season to put their roster around 18 players.
Rory Gregoire expects them to have a strong team, but said managing 18 players may become difficult at times.
Wilkie Brewers: For 12 years straight, the Wilkie Brewers have made it to the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League championship. They won five times and lost to the Twins the other seven times.
Wilkie loses three pitchers, two of whom were league MVPs. Russ Nielsen, last season's MVP, and Brad Frehlich, league MVP in his final year of midget baseball, along with Barrett Nielsen will all not be in Wilkie this summer. Combined those three pitched 51 innings for the Brewers last season.
Aaron Sittler will anchor the pitching staff again, while youngsters Mitch Nielsen and Robert Cey will see more action. Jared Herle is back with the Brewers after playing three years ago and should eat up some innings as well as Bye Braun.
Along with adding Herle, the Brewers added TJ Hoogsteen and look to carry 14 players, as Jared Keller and Robert Keller will not be back with the Brewers this season.
The Brewers will count on their offence to help them win close ball games, but their team defence will be key. Veterans Jason Schell, Cody Wilgenbusch and Rick Cey return to patrol the outfield while Mike Sittler, Mike Wismer, Nick Pernitsky, Ryan Cey and Trent Cey will fill in on the infield.
Last season the Brewers were 11-2 and finished in second palce. Of their four playoff wins last season all were won by one run, meaning they will need to find ways to win close ball games again this year.
Unity Cardinals: Unity were knocked out of the 2011 playoffs in the first round by Meadow Lake and are looking to move to the next level. Again, the Cardinals will be aiming to make the playoffs. As Regan L'Heureux says, they hope to be playing their best baseball at the end of the season and carry that into the playoffs.
Unity was 7-6 last season, and with a strong division this year, they will have to make sure they beat the teams lower in the standings as well as find ways to scratch out wins against some of the top teams.
Like their division rivals, Unity also loses some key players as three-quarters of their infield will look different this season. Third baseman Keith Heitt and shortstop Tyler Gilbert both retired and second baseman Justin d'Entremont will not be in town for the season. The Cardinals hope some other veterans, or perhaps some rookies, can step in and fill the void.
Francis Keifer should be healthy, and a key part of the Cardinals' pitching staff along with Cory Wildeman and Scott Ackerland.
L'Heureux batted .500 last season and will be expected to once again set the table for the veteran hitters behind him in the lineup. Batters such as Mark Ralston and Ryan Greenwald will be counted on to drive the runs in this season for the Cardinals, as the scrappy team will need to take advantage of their run scoring opportunities when they have the chance.
