Baseball players from the southeast corner of the province are going to take a shot at becoming a part of the Team Saskatchewan for the 2022 Canada Games.
Alongside the other 29 players chosen by the Sask. Baseball Association, Kade Phillips of Estevan, and Carter Beck and Callum Hollinger of Carnduff are going to Florida to partake in a spring training session in April.
The trip will be the first step in the process of being chosen to compete at the Canada Games in Niagara Falls, Ont., this summer.
"The three boys from southern Saskatchewan have been invited along with other athletes in their age group to go to Florida to train at the Jackie Robinson baseball facility down there with the Sask. Baseball Association," said Kristy Phillips, Kade Phillips' mother. "These three have been recruited by Sask. Baseball based on their performance in the previous year and with their teams to have the opportunity to further their development.
“Besides, the team of coaches and staff that will be going with them, will be evaluating these boys to take part in the Team Saskatchewan, the team that will be representing Saskatchewan at the Canada Games this summer in Niagara Falls. So this is the first step in being evaluated for that team."
She added that there will be another tournament that will be taking place in Kamloops, B.C., at the end of April where the players will be evaluated. Another evaluation will be taking place at a tournament in Swift Current where all teams in Saskatchewan will be represented.
The final decision on Saskatchewan's baseball team will also consider athletes' performance throughout the year on their local baseball teams.
Blair Beck, a baseball coach who's trained all three players, said they all have a fairly good chance of making it to Team Saskatchewan in the end, but there are many factors that will affect the final decisions.
"Kade Phillips, I coached last year in AAA bantam in Alameda (with the) Southeast A's. He is a very strong player, good hitter, good pitcher, outfielder, infielder, lots of good qualities, and as a first-year kid in midget, he looks to have a strong year. Callum Hollinger is a kid I've coached since he was little. He is a very strong hitter, plays mainly in the outfield and has been working hard in Regina the last couple of months, training hard to get ready to go, so should be ready to go,” Beck said.
“And then the third guy is my own son Carter. He's a catcher, infielder mainly, a strong hitter and he'll look to continue that when he goes down south.”
"I think they'll (those deciding on Team Saskatchewan) be looking at all kinds of factors - baseball ability is, obviously, being the number one, but also their work ethic and how they get along with others and how they carry themselves. Saskatchewan's got a pretty good history, they are defending champions in the Canada Summer Games. So they'll be looking to take the strongest team as they could possibly take for that tournament.”
He also pointed out that to be one of the 32 top players in the province is a huge achievement, and the fact that three athletes from the region are among the top players is also a good indication of the level of baseball in the southeast.
"(It indicates that) we're developing kids that are able to play at that level, and hopefully, these guys will have some success and inspire other kids to get to the same place," Beck said.
In order to supplement training in Florida, Sask. Baseball Association is hosting a province-wide 50/50 draw taking place on March 22. As of March 7, the pot was sitting at $13,300.
Phillips said part of the money raised through the raffle will help support the players that were selected to go to Florida, covering some of the expenses. But they will also be used for other training expenses ahead of the Canada Summer Games.
If anyone would like to support these athletes or the baseball association, they can purchase tickets at https://www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/baseballsask.
