UNITY — The roughly one inch of rain which fell in Unity and area July 19 was a boon to local farmers and gardeners but created some headaches for Baseball Saskatchewan, the 15U AA Tier 3 provincial hosting committee and the volunteer grounds crews at the Unity Regional Park ball diamonds.
The persistent showers resulted in Saturday’s 11 a.m. games (moved from 12 p.m. in hopes of beating the rains) being cut short and no one was able to return to the diamonds the rest of that day. As a result, everyone played on what is traditionally referred to as “playoff Sunday,” with games starting at 7 a.m. in order to finish up Saturday’s interrupted games and also to get in the remaining four round robin match-ups.
Sunday’s games were also moved from the Credit Union and Kinsmen baseball diamonds to the Lions and Kinsmen softball diamonds.
A tiebreaker game was needed in pool B, with the Southern Aces and Kindersley Royals facing off at noon July 20, pushing the semifinal and gold medal games back two hours each. It was the Aces who advanced to the semis.
The gold medal game wasn’t played until 5 p.m. so the Watrous Lakers went home late but happy, with gold medals around their necks. The Swift Current 57s took the silver.
Unity Cardinals, the host team, had a tough start to the tournament, losing their first game 16-2 to Swift Current, Friday.
Game two was against the Battleford Beavers and began Saturday, but couldn’t be completed until Sunday morning. It was a close one with a disappointing 3-2 loss to the Beavers.
Coach Dan Feser said the delay began when “We were in the bottom of the fifth and trailing 3-2. Our starting pitcher Lukus Volk had thrown an absolute gem and had a couple more outs in him. He slipped on his first pitch and that was that. We retreated to the room.”
Feser said the delay didn’t affect his players at all. “Once they dried out, the boys went to the batting cage to get some swings in. They were dialed in for baseball.
“When we came back to finish 19 hours later, Nate Nyhuis picked up the ball for Lukus and struck out the side. We made a run at it in the seventh on a dangerous looking rally started by Madden and Avery Duncan, but, alas, came up one bounce short.”
Feser added, “The boys were obviously disappointed but as coaches we were thrilled. It was likely the best baseball game we played all season.”
The Cardinals were able to rebound and finish their season on a winning note, with an 11-7 win over the Carnduff Astros in their final round robin game. With a 1-2 win-loss record, they did not advance to the playoffs.
Feser said, “We told the team all we wanted for them was for each player to have a great memory they will remember forever … They all had great individual moments, every one of the 12. We got a win, we had a lot of laughs and Mother Nature ensured this one [provincial tournament] won’t get mixed up with the others.”
He made special mention of “Jinks Cooper, our lead-off hitter and catalyst, [who] played the whole weekend on one leg, fighting through an ankle injury suffered in rodeo to play with his brothers. Inspiring.”
Feser concluded, “All season we talked about the privilege and responsibility of being a Unity Cardinal. The work you have to put in, the investment, physical and mental, to earn the right to be a Cardinal.
“We got there.
“We were Cardinals.”
The Neilburg Monarchs lost all three of their round robin games, 19-9 to Kindersley, 12-7 to Watrous and 12-3 to the Aces.
Regan L’Heureux represented Baseball Saskatchewan at the tournament and described it as a “memorable 15U baseball championship despite rain delays.” He pointed out, “in an effort to stay ahead of the forecasted rain, Saturday’s games were moved up by an hour … we were able to complete the 8 a.m. matchups. Unfortunately, rain arrived mid-morning, forcing us to suspend the 11 a.m. games around the fifth inning.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of our volunteer grounds crew, who put in several hours of diamond preparation late into Saturday night, play was able to resume early Sunday morning … To stay on schedule, the remaining round robin games were shortened to five innings.”
The semifinals and championship final games returned to the full seven-inning format.
L’Heureux added, “A huge thank you goes out to all the volunteers and field crew who worked so hard to ensure Unity could successfully host yet another memorable championship weekend.”
Feser, too, commended the efforts of volunteers, saying, “Once again it was incredible to see the baseball community rally to get that tournament in the books. The leadership of Regan L’Heureux and the determination of Mathieu Kiefer, Shaun O’Brian and the grounds crew. Then parents, Town of Unity employees, Tyler Gilbert and the 18U team coming to pitch in with vac trailers, rakes and squeegees to get the relocation in place was awe inspiring. Ward and Kyla Snell stepped up and played a pivotal role and, as always, Mary Anne Gaetz was in her scorekeeping shed. Pat Risling was a constant presence to ensure everything was looked after. Everyone pitched in to ensure the best days of our young players’ lives are indeed that.
“I got a lot of comments from the visiting teams who were also duly impressed with small town innovation and determination.”
Ball in Unity is not over yet, with the 13U Cardinals hosting the AA Tier 3 provincial championships this weekend, July 25 to 27. Their first game is July 25 at 6 p.m.
