SUNDRE – With the local minor ball association wrapping up a successful season following a few minor hiccups like finding an alternate diamond to play at, the president expressed optimism about the possibility of have a U19 softball squad next season for the first time in years.
“It started off with such great weather,” said Michele Blackhurst about the past season.
Despite some rain in June as well as stifling smoke from wildfires that cancelled a few games, which can hamper an already short season, things overall went really well, said Blackhurst.
Following a surge in registrations, Sundre Minor Ball was able to field 19 teams this year, about a couple more than last season, she said.
“There was eight baseball teams, seven softball teams, and four first league,” she said.
Although several of the softball teams competed either in provincials or provincial qualifiers, none of the baseball squads that qualified – such as the U13 baseball team that finished first in their league – ended up being able to commit as a result of busy summer schedules.
There were two U15 softball teams this year that were broken down into tiers 1 and 2. The tier 2 squad competed in provincials in Grande Prairie, and despite winning two games and losing two did not end up ranking. The tier 1 team played hard at a provincial qualifier hosted in Drumheller but didn’t move on, she said.
“They were very close,” she said, adding they just barely lost a couple of games by one or two runs.
Looking ahead to next season, Blackhurst expressed optimism about possibly fielding a U19 softball team with many of the U17 players moving up.
While the teams had to make arrangements to play some of their games elsewhere this season as the outfield at Diamond 2 in Sundre was re-seeded, the alternate location at Westward Ho worked out nicely. Even though that approach came with its own challenges, the teams were just grateful for the chance to play, she said.
And provided the stars align, the Stealers will be back on home turf next year.
“The grass is growing really good I think on Diamond 2,” she said. “So, hopefully next season we won’t have to worry about finding alternate diamonds to use.”
Wrapping up her first year in a two-year term as the association’s president, Blackhurst said about the experience, “It was good; there’s always challenges that come up, like the diamond situation. But we have a really great board, so that made it for a really good year.”
With many hands on deck, the association is poised to thrive.
“We’ve done really well and we’ve got a lot of new faces in the past couple of years; it’s been really nice,” she said. “We’re at a good place, but we definitely wouldn’t turn down any volunteers.”
For now, ball fans who are interested in either following or connecting with Sundre Minor Ball can check out the association’s social media, but that could change in the coming year as the board is looking into plans to develop a website, she said.
