The second part of the local area senior baseball teams previews comes the same week the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League season begins.
The first game of the season was scheduled for Thursday in Lloydminster, but all the other local teams don't see action until Tuesday.
Mervin and St. Walburg, division rivals, will get the season started against each other in one of their two head-to-head meetings.
Mervin, after joining forces with players from Edam in the previous few seasons, has been knocking on the door of the playoffs and are hoping to make the cut of the top eight this season.
The Flyers lose two of their top batters from last year, as Doug Bannerman and Trevor Taves both will not be with Mervin this season. But Kelly Baillargeon expects they should be a faster team with the addition of players moving up from midget this season.
Baillargeon led the Flyers' pitching staff last season with 28.2 innings pitched the next closest was Matt Hougham with 20. Sever Rose, Jon Conacher and Jordan Macnab all pitched one game last season as well. Pitching can be key for Mervin, as they play on the smallest diamond in the league and will want to avoid getting into slugfests with teams like the Twins. They will play the Twins twice this season.
The Flyers have confidence carrying over from last season, as they had good games with the top two teams. Mervin beat Wilkie and went into extra innings with the Lloydminster Meridian Twins, keeping the game scoreless after eight innings. The Flyers feel they can compete with any team in the league if they play consistently throughout the season and will need at least a .500 record again this season to be in contention for the playoffs.
St. Walburg had just one win last season, but have made strides in the league since joining two seasons ago.
The Reds wanted to bring senior baseball back in the community and are doing so with each game, as they continue to improve.
Last season, no player was more valuable to their team than Scott Thompson was to the Reds, as he pitched 30.1 innings. Just three others pitched a combined 16.2 innings.
Thompson along with Brad Nixon, Shaun Spence, Dion Dueck, Aaron Dueck, Tyler Winterhalt, Kristian Sawyshyn, Brent Treffiak, Steve Treffiak, Jordan Lantz and Matt Harris will all be back this season.
The team knows they will be in a tough division with Mervin, the Border City Blue Jays and the defending champion Lloydminster Meridian Twins, but the idea of improving each time out will be key for the team and Nixon guarantees that they will "have a blast" regardless each game out.
St. Walburg has the potential to win more games this season, as some teams may underestimate them after looking at their previous record and the addition of Chris Behnke, Evan Boser, Sheldon Williamson, Josh Winiewski, Braeden Cooper, Mike Babchuck, Justin Svoboda, Jeff Toews, Keenan Macnab and Rilry Macnab will only help strengthen the team.
The Standard Hill Lakers were 3-9-1 last season with their tie coming against the Twins. Some would argue they are a better team than their record showed last season and they will look to improve that this year.
The Lakers have a strong batting lineup, as Kolby Janus supplies some power. Last season, Brett Harrison, Tyler Johnston, Kevin Rhinehart, Shawn Rhinehart, Marc Telenga and Nic Weston did an admirable job getting on base.
The Lakers scored 50 runs last season, which is respectable, but allowed 70 and will need their pitching and defence to tighten up.
Harrison and Janus were the main arms used for the Lakers last season and, if they are available, expect more of the same this year.
