Baseball leagues around Alberta are well underway including those here in Mountain View County. Carstairs, Cremona and Didsbury all have associations with teams that play in the Chinook Baseball League, which features teams from throughout Central Alberta.
Bill Parker, president of Carstairs Minor Baseball Association (CMBA), said they've finished registration and numbers are up from last year.
"We had another big turnout again this year," said Parker. "We've increased by another team to 10 teams in town. We haven't changed our fees at all for the last three years or so. It's a very supportive town."
Parker said they've got close to 150 kids playing in total, including in T-ball.
CMBA has three rookie teams this year, which is ages 7 and 8; three mosquito teams, which is 9-11; two peewee teams, which is 11-13; one bantam (14-16); and one midget (17-18), said Parker.
"We've got about 30 to 35 T-ball kids," he said.
All teams travel to nearby towns for games, except for T-ballers.
Parker said teams have already begun practices with league play scheduled to go from May 6 to June 27.
"Teams practise twice a week and play league games during the week," he said.
Each level has a tournament during the season. Parker said Carstairs will be hosting the midget and rookie tournaments, although dates have not been confirmed yet.
Didsbury teams start games this week, including Cremona peewee at Didsbury on May 7. Didsbury association officials did not return calls for more information at press time.
The Cremona Baseball Association has wrapped up registration and has around 100 players this year, which is about the same as last year, said Rob Scott, who is a director for Cremona Baseball and president of the Chinook Baseball League.
Cremona has two teams of T-ball; one coach pitch team; three rookie teams; and one team each at the peewee, bantam and midget levels, said Scott.
"Each team typically has one game a week and one practice a week," he said. "Each category has a tournament some time in the year. Since the season is so short and the large number of teams we have in the league, we don't do playoffs."
Scott said they have a great number of volunteers who help make the association go.
"They put in countless hours doing their best to make sure everyone has a great year," he said. "A huge thank you to these association volunteers and to all the coaches who step up to lead the teams. Without these people baseball would not be possible in the community."
Cremona Baseball will be running a raffle this year, said Scott. In addition, they will be hosting a special game on June 15 between the Cremona Fire Department and the local midget team.
