It was one of those things that I didn’t realize how much I missed it, until I was down there, surrounded by the people.
Estevan hosted the Baseball Sask. U13 AA Tier 2 championships this past weekend. Some pretty good young athletes were in Estevan for the weekend, trying to win an elusive provincial championship, and to do so while having a good time with their buddies.
Events like these are not only a good showcase of minor baseball and the facilities we have, but they’re great for the community, too. They bring a lot of people to Estevan, and they give us a chance to display our great hospitality.
I’ve been to lots of provincial ball championships before. I’ve seen some of the most notable victories in the recent history of minor baseball, including the Western Canadian U18 AAA title won by Estevan on home field in 2008, and the gold medal victory for Team South East at the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games.
These are highlights of my career.
And there have been numerous provincial titles for Estevan teams, some of which were won at home.
So you might think these events could be old hat for me.
But there was something special about being at the U13 tournament this past weekend. I was more than happy to be at Mel Murray Cactus Park when several diamonds were in use at once, with fans watching and cheering on these young players.
I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time down there, but I enjoyed what I did see.
It helped that minor baseball paid tribute to a couple of people who have been part of the sport in the community for a long time. If you were wondering about the new name of the facility, minor baseball recognized Mel Murray for his many years of contributions.
Frankly, I can’t think of a more deserving person. Mel was a big part of ball when I first moved here; he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 for his contributions to ball in the community.
And while he’ll always be quick to share the recognition with the many other people who have been involved with minor ball in Estevan, anybody who’s had anything to do with minor baseball in Estevan over the last 30-ish years will tell you this is well deserved.
When he retired from minor ball after winning the Western Canadian title in 2008, I missed seeing him at the ball diamonds.
Fortunately, he’s taken an active role in baseball again by looking after Mel Murray Cactus Park.
The other honouree is Kent Phillips, whose involvement with minor baseball started about the same time I arrived here. When he tossed out the ceremonial first pitch during the opening ceremonies Friday night, it was the latest recognition for his commitment to minor baseball.
He’s been there as a coach, a member of the executive and other roles. Minor ball named their volunteer of the year award after him. And there’s a generation of kids who passed through minor ball who will tell how much Phillips helped with their development while encouraging them to have fun and love the game.
In communities of this size, it’s ultimately the volunteers who make things happen. So when you get the opportunity to recognize them, it’s important to do so, even if they would prefer to share the attention with others, or defer the honour to someone they view as more suitable.
We’ll get another shot at hosting some pretty primo ball next month, with provincial tournaments at the U15 and U11 levels. Once again, these will go beyond baseball tournaments; they will serve as showcases for Estevan.
Estevan has long been ambitious with its baseball events. I recall that in 2004, we had the Western Canadian U13 and U15 AAA boys events, along with the U15 AAA girls competitions. We were among the first to host all three events together, and certainly the first for a community this size to have all three events.
When we’ve had provincial events in the past, it often hasn’t been enough to have just one provincial tournament; we would usually have two or three at the same time, and in many cases, one of these tournaments would end with Estevan players pouring Gatorade on the coach after winning the championship.
Other times, the local team’s season would end with that tournament, but only after the kids had a great time and learned a lot about the game and life, which is really what kids’ sports are all about.
And people would leave Estevan, raving about the great facilities and the great people we have, and the great time they had, regardless of the result.
