The season opener for the 103rd year of Marysburg Royals baseball saw the Royals come away with a 7-0 when they faced the Saskatoon Stallions. 

It’s back to the diamond for the team playing in the Saskatoon Senior Baseball League. The last rural team senior team standing from a long and storied ball legacy in the area, the Royals season will consist of 16 games in a league that seems to have weathered the pandemic storm. Long time Royals player Curtis Strueby surveys the situation.

“We have the same number of teams this year. We have a few less teams from pre-pandemic, but the five remaining teams seem to be the stronghold.”

The team membership remains stable with a couple of changes from last year brought on by the COVID situation, explains Strueby. 

“Last season, there was no Western League for the Collegiate players, so we had a few of those guys last year play a few games with us. They’re not back this year as they have pursued summer collegiate leagues, which is understandable. Tyler McWillie and Nolan Machibroda are two that played a few games for us.”

A few new players will be joining the ranks including recent Humboldt arrival Tom Hooker. Former college players Cole Bauml and Nick Anderson rejoin the ranks to round out a truly local squad. 

The season format follows a standard format with many of the Royals home games being weekend doubleheaders. The shortened season, due to health restrictions in place at this point, will lead up to playoffs in August. Strueby says the team will be making its usual run in provincial competition, but that prospect is currently up in the air. 

“We have no idea what that will look like. We don’t know how many teams there will be given the pandemic. It may hit senior baseball hard in the province, we don’t know.”

In the meantime, the tight knit team with deep historical ties pursues a new season with the same vigour as every other. The first game of the Sunday, June 20 doubleheader goes at 1:00 pm in Marysburg.