The Thompson men’s hardball league is set to begin regular season play as early as next week, weather permitting, and if there’s one thing the league’s three teams will never say no to, it’s more players.
Jack Sangster said at the league’s annual preseason meeting May 9 that the Red Sangster ball diamond, named after his late father, is basically dry except for the infield, though it did suffer some damage during last Wednesday’s high winds, which tipped over both of the dugouts.
Regular season play is set to get underway on May 22 – the Tuesday after the long weekend – with this week dedicated to informal scrimmages for players from any team. Apart from the first week of the season and the week of Canada Day, which falls on a Sunday this year, when games will go on Tuesday and Thursday, the rest of the time game nights will be Monday and Thursday, meaning each team will have only one game per week most of the time and then play twice every third week. Games will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the fee for every team will be about $1,300 to cover the costs of field rentals, umpires, baseballs and Manitoba Baseball Association membership fees, which bring with them coverage under the association’s insurance policy. The association will also send up three starter kits with scorebooks, rulebooks and other paraphernalia, Sangster said.
The players will also decided by the end of June whether or not to send a select team to provincials, which will be played in early August.
Anyone interested in joining one of the teams can come to the ball diamond on any game night, check out the Thompson Baseball Facebook group or contact Sangster at 204-679-8282.
