The Muenster Red Sox (seen practicing) featured players from across the East Central region in 2020, and the 15U teams will follow a similar path. (Facebook/Muenster Red Sox Minor Baseball)

By Mat Barrett

East Central Baseball Merger

15U AAA and AA baseball programs merging in Muenster and Humboldt

Feb 11, 2021 | 5:00 PM

Minor baseball in the Muenster and Humboldt areas will look a bit different this season.

The East Central Baseball Association (ECBA) was created about two years ago as the 18U AAA and AA baseball teams from Humboldt and Muenster decided to merge. Those teams have played as the Muenster Red Sox since, and are now welcoming the 15U age group to the family.

ECBA Board Member Chad Hofmann said after discussions with both the Muenster and Humboldt minor baseball boards, they decided that it would be a good idea to merge the 15U AAA and AA teams. Hofmann said it doesn’t make a ton of sense to have two AAA baseball teams within five minutes of each other.

“Kids should be playing in their proper categories, whether it be AAA or AA,” he said. “And also, this will give kids an opportunity for success in those, as well as our teams. I think in the future, the strength of our programs are going to be that much better.”

Hofmann said there’s no concern at the moment that one less AAA team in that age group is going to have an effect on the players.

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“It only makes our programs that much better when you’ve got two boards that work together,” he said.

The teams will play at the highest possible level for their age group, according to a Facebook post, playing other teams from across Saskatchewan.

“We both need each other to compete with larger centres, and AAA categories,” Hofmann told northeastNOW. “And give kids the best experience they possibly can.”

The teams will also undergo some minor name changes. The 18U AAA team, which was previously known as the Muenster Red Sox, will now go by the East Central Red Sox. The 18U AA team will remain the Muenster Red Sox. As for the 15U clubs; the AAA team will now be the East Central Dodgers, and the 15U AA team will now be known as the Humboldt Dodgers. Hofmann said the name changes were made to reflect the AAA teams regularly have players from outside of Humboldt and Muenster as well as showing that it’s more than just a community team, it’s a whole area.

Coaches for the AAA team will be chosen through an application process and chose by the board. The AA coaches will do something similar, and be chosen by the board based on information provided at the time of registration.

The changes will be in effect for the 2021 baseball season.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6