Baseball westerns coming to Strathmore

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

The AA Minor Western Canada Baseball Championships will be held for the first time in Strathmore, from Aug. 16-18.
Hosted by the Strathmore Reds, teams from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will be here.
The recent completion of the Fair Field diamond in Cheadle, raising the total number of local baseball diamonds to three, made it possible for Strathmore to host the championship that travels to each participating province once every four years.
Five teams from each of the three age groups will be competing in the championships. The U18 games will take place at the Strathmore Kinsmen Park diamond, U15 will be at Fair Field Cheadle Lions diamond and the U13 teams will play at the Strathmore ag grounds diamond.
Each team will play four games in the round robin championship and the top two teams from each division will vie for the championship title.
“It’s going to be good, competitive ball because it’s the provincial champions, the best of the best from all four provinces, playing,” said Don Anderson, tournament chairman. “It’s great to show off our facilities, our town and bring good baseball to town. Plus, our local teams will get to compete in westerns at that level; all three age groups get to compete.”
As provincials are being wrapped up in some provinces, Alberta’s provincial playoffs for all three divisions will take place over the August long weekend. Once the 2019 provincial winners for each of the four participating western provinces are determined, the schedule with each province representative can be completed and the Strathmore Reds teams will know who their competition is.
Heading into provincials, the U18 Reds were in the hot seat as the number two team in the province in Tier 1. The U15 Reds held the third spot in Tier 3 before provincials and the U13 Reds held strong in fourth place in Tier 1. Part of the reason Strathmore was successful in their bid to host the championships can be accredited to how well all three teams are playing in their divisions this year.
“It’s going to be good competition; they’re going to have to be on top of their game, there are some pretty good teams,” said Anderson.
Opening ceremonies for the weekend will kick off on Aug. 16 at 5 p.m. at Kinsmen Park diamond. Every team will be introduced and present on the field and some short speeches will be made. Several alumni of the Strathmore Reds, who have furthered their baseball ambitions through playing either college or professional baseball, will be present and recognized in the ceremony and in the program.
Immediately following the opening ceremonies, the Strathmore Reds will take to the field against Team Alberta in a game at 5:30 p.m.
An event of this calibre and size requires a lot of hours and volunteers to set everything up. The organizing committee is looking for some more volunteers who can donate their time with various tasks such as score keeping, grounds maintenance or helping with the opening ceremonies.
The top team from each division, crowned 2019 AA Minor Western Canada Baseball Champions, will win medals and a trophy. Following each game, a Player of the Game award will also be handed out to each team.
The public is welcome to attend the opening ceremonies and baseball games, free of charge.
Volunteer information and game schedules can be found online at www.aaminorwesterns2019strathmore.myevent.com.