A squad of Sundre Minor Ball players comprised of several age categories recently competed at a provincial tournament.
The Sundre Stealers — who are a group of boys aged 11 to 14 from the mosquito, peewee and bantam divisions — competed at the Baseball Alberta Peewee A Tier 1 Provincials in Delia, located northeast of Drumheller, July 20-22.
Baseball Alberta offers this format to allow youth who play community ball to extend their season, and team manager Jody Layden said the team was put together outside of the regular Sundre Minor Ball organization to accommodate the boys who wanted to continue playing.
“The Stealers spent the first two weekends of July in Red Deer and Sylvan Lake participating in round-robin play to determine their appropriate tier for the provincial tournament,” she said.
Their performance at those competitions resulted in the Stealers placing in tier 1, putting them up against the top peewee A teams in the province from Delia, Kitscoty, Plamandon, North Peace and Manning in the Baseball Alberta championship, she said.
The team attended well prepared and outfitted courtesy of community support, including access to the municipality’s facilities to practise and equipment made available by Sundre Minor Ball, she said, adding the cost of uniforms as well as tournament and umpire fees were covered by local sponsors.
The Stealers played three games on the final weekend — going up against Plamondon, North Peace and Kitscoty, winning one and facing two losses.
The Manning Comets won the championship.
