The 2020 Marysburg Royals baseball team. (Submitted photo/Curtis Streuby)

By Mat Barrett

Swing Away

Marysburg Royals set for SSBL season, hopeful for provincials

Jun 10, 2021 | 3:00 PM

The Marysburg Royals kick off their Saskatoon Senior Baseball League (SSBL) season in less than a week.

The Royals open things up on June 15 in Saskatoon against the Stallions. Player Curtis Strueby told northeastNOW it feels like a light at the end of the tunnel as they get set to play what would be their most “normal” season in almost two years.

“It’s starting to resemble some kind of normalcy again,” he said. “There’s still some protocols in place, the Return to Play documents that we will be following.”

Strueby said they are starting about a month later than normal this year, leading to a few less games on their schedule.

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Last season, the Royals, and many other senior teams, were able to welcome some high-end collegiate ball players who had no place to play due to some summer leagues not playing. However, Strueby said while they lost a few of those players, the team is still pretty much intact and they’ve been able to field a good team for the year.

“I think a lot of guys are just excited to simply get out and be with the guys again,” Strueby said. “And just try to do something that resembles some kind of normalcy and play the game we all love.”

There’s still some unknowns regarding provincial championships this year for senior baseball, but Strueby said they are hopeful to be able to play in that tournament. Marysburg was set to host provincials in 2020, but weren’t able to due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, fans are welcome to the field in Marysburg again this year as they were last season. Strueby said some restrictions remain in place, but hopefully those are lifted soon.

“Even though the crowds were smaller [last year], there was still people eager to come out and watch a few games,” he said. “So, hopefully this year we can have some larger crowds too.”

The Royals SSBL regular season wraps up Aug. 10, but the schedule is subject to change due to provincials.

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mat.barrett@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @matbarrett6