The Southeast Performance Pump midget AAA Twins have had to dodge a few snowbanks along the way but preparations for the 2018 baseball season are well underway.
With the team selected, head coach Blaine Kovach said the team will play a couple of game in Weyburn, but will play at Lynne Prime Park for most of their home games this season, including those weekend doubleheaders they frequently had.
“You’re going to have a very young team this year,” said Kovach, who will be assisted again by Trent Dorrance and Kent Phillips this season. “We have a good mix of first and second years this year, but with those first and second years we have a lot of talent. The first year I came to the program, we had some young players and it was a little bit different now, these young guys are ballplayers and they want to be here. It’s going to be pretty exciting to watch them.”
Back from last year’s team are Thomas Husband, Alex Kerr, Tyren Dorrance, Burke Lyons, Jose Reyes and Dahlen Klassen. The new players are Aiden Krafchuk, Rhett Krafchuk, Hudson Neuberger, Ty Nikolejsin, Jayke Smolinski and Boston Walker.
The spring melt caused a little bit of an issue when it came to getting practice time outdoors but the Twins still hit the outside to get ready for the season with a pair of practices before last weekend.
“We managed to get by the snowbanks that are out there and made it work, but at least we’re not the only team that’s affected by this situation,” Kovach said. “Every team in the league is having this same situation we have.”
The Twins had a veteran team last season that went 13-17 during the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League hosting midget AAA provincials, but now this year with young players, the expectations are little bit different.
“I just want them to develop properly,” Kovach said. “That’s a big thing. If they’re going to go out there and compete and have the energy, and I haven’t seen any issues with that yet, if they can continue that throughout the season come provincial time we could provide some surprises with this young squad.”
The Twins made provincials in 2016 and with a good tournament, made it to the final game. The youth on this year’s team could be headed that way in a year or so.
“With this group, if they stick together for that amount of time, they definitely could put in a good run for the provincial title,” Kovach said. “There are going to be experienced players especially coming out of Saskatoon but these guys can hold their own against them. Down the road, I could see them competing for it, for sure.”
Every player will be coming from out of town to play for the Twins this season.
Weybruns’ Tom Laing Park will be the host to the Twins’ May 8 game against the Regina White Sox, with Lynne Prime hosting their first Twins games May 12 and 13 with doubleheaders against the Saskatoon Cubs and Muenster Red Sox.
The regular season is scheduled to end July 21 with a home doubleheader against the Regina Athletics.
