Meadow Lake Minor baseball players having fun in the sun at a tournament last season. (Facebook/Meadow Lake Minor Ball)

By Martin Martinson

Batters Up!

Meadow Lake Minor Ball sees home run turnout this spring

May 9, 2024 | 6:59 AM

As minor ball season in Meadow Lake swings into action for another year, the local diamonds have been a busy destination with excitement palpable for the spring 2024 season.

President of Meadow Lake Minor Ball, Regan Beck said they’ve seen a great turnout again this year, only continuing to build on a milestone year for ball registrations in 2023.

“We’re still up around 300 kids this year and probably when it all shakes down, we’ll be in that 350-ish range which will be right around the new high we experienced last year, so we’re very happy with the turnout,” he said.

“We have teams in all divisions of baseball and softball this year, which is always nice to see, so we’re very excited about the season.”

Beck added that the growth in participation in kids coming out to play ball has been impressive considering where the program was a decade ago.

World Championships

Power, Cozens lead Canada to 5-3 win over Finland at hockey worlds

May 18, 2024

Cross-province tour

NDP Leader Beck hopes for improvements to healthcare, education

May 18, 2024

staff shortage

New incentive offers up to $10K signing bonus for northern teachers

May 14, 2024

“There was a little bit of a dip [a few years ago] with COVID, but it’s been a steady climb otherwise,” he said. “It’s been about eight to 10 years we’ve been involved with it and when we first signed on we were at 100 kids, so we just keep climbing every year.

“It wasn’t that long ago we didn’t have much in the way of softball and now we have softball teams in U11, U13, [and] U17, multiples in the U11s and we have a provincial team in three of those divisions that go each year and are competitive, so it’s definitely a big jump on the softball side [in particular].”

He said a big part in supplementing the growth of softball in the community has come from the work and dedication of the coaches they’ve had in recent years who have implemented a program that can be followed for future years.

“We have a group of girls this year that are in U15, and their coaching staff has really been a big lead on the softball side of things,” Beck said. “With the foundation there, it’s easier for a parent to step in and run those teams and just kind of follow the model that’s put forward.”

As local ball teams from Learn to Play to 18U on the baseball end and U17 in softball, continue to get underway over the next week – following a few early-season delays due to some rainy conditions – Meadow Lake Minor Ball is also looking ahead to hosting a couple of key tournaments this year.

Among the events of note this season will be the U11 B North Softball Provincials July 5-7, and the 13U AA baseball Provincials July 26-28.

—

Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1