The Marysburg Royals kick off the senior AA Tier 1 baseball provincials Friday night in Saskatoon.

Shortstop Curtis Strueby says they had a slow start to the season but they are playing well going into the seven team championship.

"It's a competitive league and if you don't show up to play you won't win and for the first month of the year we didn't so to speak, that's kind of why we're at where we're at but the last little while we've been playing good ball."

The club goes into the tournament with a league record of 12-5 in the Saskatoon Senior Men's Baseball League.

 They face the Saskatoon Diggers at 8 o'clock Friday night, the Regina Trappers are Saturday afternoon's opponent.

Strueby admits they don't know what to expect from this year's field.

"There is no clear cut favourite, we've learned that over the last number of years. I don't think there has been a repeat winner for the last six or seven years in our category so it's really up for grabs."

One uncertainty for the team, in their remarkable 99th season, is the turnover to a younger crop of pitchers. Nick Anderson, Carter Frerichs, Adam Gerwing and Thomas Lessmeister have made the jump to senior with promising results. Parker McRae will also be on their provincial roster.

Strueby says the new recruits have pitched very well and they don't see that changing even with heavier, stronger line ups.

"We've thrown our young guys right into the heat of the battle and they've done well, they've really done well in the league. Like you said coming into provincial time with these loaded up rosters and teams being pretty stacked one through nine we'll find out how they do, we have confidence in them."

The Royals are looking for their first provincial title since 2011.

You can hear more from Strueby below in his interview with Bolt FM's Clark Stork.