Ile des Chenes hosts successful provincials

Twenty-four teams, 50 volunteers, parents, coaches and officials packed Ile des Chenes’ biggest park last weekend.

Both the 13U and 15U AAA provincial tournaments were played, with champions crowned and spots at the Western Canada Baseball Championships booked.

Marc Roy, treasurer and registrar with Seine River Minor Ball, which operates out of Ile des Chenes’ Optimist Park, said the event was a success. With positive reviews coming from players and parents who travelled from as far as the Saskatchewan border.

“We had so many comments from people locally, and from all around the province for multiple things,” Roy said. “Number one is the diamonds were beautiful, grass is green, the infield was nice. Number two, the park itself was beautiful, beautiful trees, grass was cut, we’ve had nothing but positive comments from our fans, from everywhere.”

He said it took a lot of work to earn those positive reviews, with a whole day being spent cutting grass, along with three or four groundskeepers getting diamonds ready. Between every game foul lines and batter’s boxes were rechalked, so that games could be played without issue.

Roy said four mounds were added for the tournament, as the softball diamonds used didn’t match what baseball needs. He also said some of the fences needed to be adjusted, so that all games were on the same level.

“You’re constantly working and cleaning, that’s pretty much what you’re doing all the time,” he said.

Roy also said they underestimated how much food people were going to buy, going through over 1,000 hamburgers over the three days. He said that helped with the expenses the club had in putting the event together, especially since they didn’t charge a gate fee for parents and family, opting to charge teams a higher fee than normal instead.

“We wanted our community to feel welcome, we didn’t want them to have to dish out another $40-50 for the weekend just to see kids play or grandkids play and all that. We wanted their experience to be the best possible, and the entry fee of the teams covered pretty much what we needed for gate fees.”

Only one game had to be moved for a lack of time, a 15U match got moved to Highbury Park in Winnipeg.

The 15U Sultans played in the Tier 1 tournament, ending with a 2-3 record, only winning against Midwest and South Central.

Winnipeg South won the Tier 1 championship against Bonivital. Both teams are going to AAA Westerns, as Winnipeg South was already considered the host. `

Pembina Hills won the Tier 2 championship and will go to AA Westerns along with St. James, the hosts.

On the 13U side, Carillon played in the Tier 2 tournament, finishing with a 3-2 record, including a 27-2 win against Midwest.

The team narrowly missed out on the championship game, after dropping to Oildome and Red River Valley, the latter of which won the championship game and is headed to AA Westerns in Winnipeg two weeks from now.

The Brandon Marlins won the Tier 1 championship, beating Pembina Hills in a 12-11 nailbiter final. Both teams qualified for AAA Westerns, also in Winnipeg two weeks from now.