UNITY 鈥� Unity will be hosting fastball and baseball provincials the weekend of July 17.
Teams will be in town vying for supremacy in bantam A baseball and junior B ladies鈥� fastball.
As three-peat provincial champions, the UK Royals fastball team will have a big target on their backs. Formed in 2012, the team has reigned as provincial champions for three consecutive years while also winning Western Canadian gold and silver.
The Royals players originate from Unity and Kindersley and are coached by John 鈥淗untzie鈥� Klaehn, Brent Weber and Joe Cey.
The team鈥檚 roster includes third-year players Kelsey Wildeman of Unity and Megan MacDonald, Kindersley. Second-year players include Shelby Solomko, Kori Herner and Ally Cey of Unity. The rest of the team鈥檚 roster are rookies 鈥� Kylie Walz, Jessica Weber, Brittany Hauta and Mackenzie Chorney of Unity, Dacey Francis and Brooklyn Miller of Kindersley and Rachel Mamer of Wilkie.
It has been evident right from their first exhibition game and tournament that this is a team that has talent. Hitting the ball does not seem to be an issue and a strong pitching trio has worked well for the team. The defence has been compared to a wall as not too much will get past them. Base running and speed is also a big asset.
The UK Royals lost in a final in their first tournament in Red Deer, Alta., as well as their second tournament in Regina, these losses in the finals were their only losses of these two tournaments. The Royals travelled to Leduc, Alta. June 12 weekend where they plugged out an eight-game winning streak to take the championship Leduc Shakers tournament title reigning over 24 teams that participated. June 19 weekend the Royals travelled to Moose Jaw for a tournament where their play landed them in playoffs Sunday, but lost to a tough Moose Jaw Colts ladies鈥� team in the semifinal.
The provincial weekend will be an exciting one as it also includes the Bantam Boys baseball division hosting their provincial weekend. The Bantam boys have four teams including Unity that will be competing for a Bantam A provincial title at home.
The event will kick off Friday and fans can pay one price at the gate and watch either baseball or fastball or both.聽 Both divisions will host two games Friday night as well as opening ceremonies. There is a guaranteed 50/50 pot on the softball side each day while the baseball folks are selling score squares.
