Lakers move, league to start May 10

Not a lot was decided in terms of changing things too drastically until Tofield laid down the gauntlet with an announcement that the long-time franchise of the Tofield Lakers, twice champions and three times runner-up in the 90s, are done.

“We’re done,” said now former Laker manager Josh Banack as jaws dropped around the table. “We’re moving to Camrose.”

The players on the team, however, are not. They will head to Camrose to start up the Camrose Roadrunners third or fourth reincarnation of the team.

The reason for the end of a marriage with Tofield and men’s baseball stems from a battle over field maintenance. The team was in charge of taking care of the field for the last few years, and a hard year weather wise has taken its toll on Banack.

“I spent too much time, more time than I ever want to spend on that field,” Banack said at the meeting after announcing the players were heading to Camrose. “We’ll pay the $50 or whatever in Camrose each night to have the diamond taken care of and it’s done.”

Tofield failed to make the playoffs for the last 11 years. Now, with the addition of a few former Roadrunners possibly, the team could be a playoff foe in 2011.

The league is planning to go ahead with six teams in 2011, but as always, numbers have to be gathered in the spring. No new teams are in the works. Talk of Round Hill or a Sherwood Park/Ft. Saskatchewan team are just rumours and no representatives were present.

Other meeting highlights included:

Baseball Alberta
The league reps decided to review Baseball Alberta prices in 2011. If prices were the same, they would likely go ahead with the affiliation again to have a pool of a few umpires from the Sherwood Park area available for hire.

All-Star Game
It was proposed to try and play the All-Star game vs. the Battle River League on a weekend or Friday night in Camrose instead of a Tuesday or Thursday. The PBL will stick with two players per team, but teams will also be asked to nominate two pitchers who can make it to the game. They will then be put on a ballot for all teams to vote on in the same manner as last year with the top pick receiving 3 points, second 2 points, and third 1 point. The top three point getters will be in the game.

Schedule
It was also planned to not schedule rain-out dates like the league had done in past seasons, but add a rain-out week buffer to the end of the season. The season will begin May 10.

Tournaments

• June 4-6 in Camrose
• June 12 in Bardo
• June 18-20 in Ryley
• July 1-3 in Tofield (Tent.)
• Armena is TBD

League Executive
Secretary Ray Lehman and Treasurer Mike LeClaire also announced they will step down from their league posts. Nominations and elections will take place at the spring meeting, which is tentatively set for March 18, but is subject to change.

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Jason Buzzell