While Yorkton Minor Baseball might not have had the opportunity to lift a Saskatchewan Provincial Championship or to represent the province at a Western Canadian Championship, it was a successful 2013 season for the YMB program in President Kevin Shirtliffe's eyes.
Shirtliffe pointed out that three of Yorkton's Minor Baseball outfits competed for Provincial Championships this year, including the Peewee AA Cardinals who hosted a thrilling Provincial Championship where they narrowly lost to the Humboldt Dodgers.
The Peewee A ballclub also competed in Provincials on the same July 19-21 weekend in Martensville. The Bantam AAA team rounded out Yorkton's representation in the Provincial Championship circuit by competing in the tournament August 2-5.
While none of those teams hosted the title, Shirliffe says that nonetheless the fact that Yorkton was represented across the province in a positive manner was a success in itself. "While none of the teams won provincial titles and the opportunity to move on to Western or National championships, each team represented their community well and Yorkton Minor Baseball is proud of their accomplishments."
Individual Yorkton players stood out enough while at provincials to earn the demand of clubs attending Westerns and Nationals as their performances drew the eyes of the eventual tournament winners despite their teams not earning the trophy.
Joseph Sliva from the Peewee AA team was invited to play in the AA Minor Western Canadian Championship with the host Swift Current Indians. Sliva was a standout player from the Peewee AA Cardinals team that won by mercy rule every step of the way before falling short to Humboldt in the Provincial Championship game at Jubilee Park.
Tyson Black from the Bantam AAA team was invited to play in the Bantam AAA National Championship in Vaughan, on, Aug 22-26, with the Provincial Champion Sask-atoon Blue Jays.
In addition to Black and Sliva going on to represent Yorkton with Saskatoon and Swift Current at Nationals/Westerns, six Yorkton Minor Baseball players were named to the Zone 4 Bantam Selects team that competed against seven other Saskatchewan Baseball Association regions in the 2013 Bantam Selects tournament August 9-11 in Saskatoon.
From that tournament, Caleb Bymak & Tyson Black were selected on a team to play for Saskatchewan in the 2013 Bantam Prospects Tournament in Okotoks, AB, Aug 30-Sept. 2.
Shirtliffe is pleased with the amount of notice that Yorkton Minor Baseball has gotten on the provincial level despite not being able to win a 2013 title, showing that the minor baseball community appears to be headed in the right direction.
Numbers in youth baseball were up this year, something that shows that the future may be bright as talented Bantam players hope that their will be a Midget baseball team available in the 2014 season and beyond after a lack of a team in 2013. Shirtliffe feels that the higher numbers of players in the younger divisions will make this year an anomaly as their focus is on keeping kids in love with the game and being able to play the game for as long as possible.
Because of those increased numbers and standout players being noticed by other ballclubs this summer, Shirtliffe feels that the 2013 season was a very successful year for baseball in the community.
"Overall, the 2013 season was a successful one for Yorkton Minor Baseball. We have a lot of talent in the area, and it's being recognized by other centers. We had good player numbers, especially in the younger divisions. This bodes well for the future. Our focus is to keep kids playing right through midget and beyond.
"I don't know why you wouldn't want to play. Baseball is a great game."
