Ball players from across the area converged in different communities this past weekend to take part in the final league tournaments of the season, crowning different league champions in five different divisions.
Despite starting the season with little interest from young athletes in St. Paul, the bantam boys team would rally enough players and finish the regular season with a fairytale ending. The boys would move through the season successfully and would take top spot in the Lakeland Minor Ball Bantam East Division and the team would be undefeated heading into the year-end tournament.
On June 19, the boys would find themselves in Lac La Biche. “They ran away with their first game against Lac La Biche winning 14-4,” says Cynthia Roy, the team’s manager. In the second game, the team would again dominate, as the St. Paul boys beat Bonnyville by a score of 16-8. And that win would put St. Paul in the finals against Goodfish Lake, the top team in the west division.
The St. Paul Storm would win that game by a score of 13-7, and take home the title of 2010 league champions.
“The boys played well and worked hard. They hope to repeat the title next year and keep ball alive in St. Paul,” says Roy. Right now, the bantam boys are the highest division for minor ball in St. Paul. She hopes that in a couple years, there will be a midget team playing in town, as the boys get older.
The St. Paul Storm Bantam boys were led to victory this year by coaches Mike Bespalko, Dwayne Romanovich, and Brett Romanovich.
Also finishing on top of their league were the St. Paul peewee girls who traveled to Goodfish Lake to compete against the three other teams in their league.
“It was a good show,” says Goodfish Lake peewee girls coach Danny Halfe. He explains that St. Paul beat out Pierceland in the final game by a score of 17-12. The home team would take third place, and Bonnyville would finish in fourth.
Halfe says the June 20th year-end tournament was enjoyed by all, especially thanks to the nice weather.
In the mosquito division, St. Paul would see two teams compete for the league championship, but both teams would ultimately have their chances taken away by the top team in the league, Goodfish Lake.
St. Paul #1 would lose to Goodfish Lake in the semifinals, while St. Paul #2 would lose to the same Goodfish Lake team in the quarterfinals, according to St. Paul #2 coach Jacques Hebert. He adds that going into the tournament, he knew Goodfish Lake had a strong team.
Overall, the season was a good one, says Hebert, who further notes that he “saw lots of improvement in our players, so it went really well.”
Also in competition were the Squirts girls’ teams. And St. Paul would make a strong showing at the year-end tournament in town, says Coach Ron Wirsta. The Squirts would finish in second place, losing in the finals to Pierceland.
“It went really well. It was a beautiful day for ball,” says Wirsta. The St. Paul Squirts will now head to Red Deer for Squirts C provincials on July 10.
Also scheduled to take part in a year-end tournament over the weekend in Elk Point were the Mites’ teams. But results from the tournament were unavailable as of the Journal’s press deadline.