In what may have been more of a building block season, the Marysburg Royals are satisfied with how 2017 played out on the diamond.

Curtis Strueby has been one of the Royals key players for years and says that after a sluggish start, they were able to turn things around.

"We started slow, which we addressed after a little while. After that, we kind of took off after we had a meeting following the one game, and things went well the rest of the season."

As the Royals begin cycling in more younger players on the team, Strueby noted that coming into the season, it was up in the air as to how they would do.

"For once, us older guys kind of said that we don't really know where we'll end up and it kind of depended on our young pitching staff," he said. "Those guys played really well and gave us a chance in every game."

The Royals lost a close game in the provincial semifinal before resuming league play in the Saskatoon Senior Baseball League.

There, the Royals once again went down in the semifinal, losing two straight games to the Saskatoon Dodgers in a best-of-three.

Due to playoffs being a week and a half later, Strueby noted that they had an even younger makeup of players in the league semifinals, due to many other players missing.

"Our young guys stepped and said 'look, we'll do this'. I have to give them credit for getting a team together and they went in and lost two very close games."

Strueby says that they were able to see positive steps with the players who were brought in to play full-time, which will benefit them moving forward. 

"You could see the growth of these guys and the responsibilities. Their confidence grew as the year went on, so I think coming into next year, the growth of those guys combined with our veteran presence on the team, it will be good."

In 2018, the Royals will celebrate a milestone season on the basepaths, as they play out their 100th season, which Strueby is excited for.

"It's going to be a pretty special season, so hopefully we can put on a good show for everybody."

The Royals have a reunion planned for July 2018 to celebrate their centennial mark.

Strueby added his thanks to their sponsors - Affinity Credit Union and Bayer CropScience - as well as the coaches, parents, wives, and girlfriends who all help out during the season.