Armena looks to shake off ‘rocky’ past

Fans, players, former friends and even foes of the Powerline Baseball League might not know much about the history of Armena baseball. Actually, even most of the new 2009 Royals know very little when it comes to Armena Royals history.

But there’s a long, rich, legacy there, much older than many of this year’s young team that makes its home at Armena’s Anniversary Park.

However, despite its rich tradition, picturesque horizon on the open Alberta prairies and a Safeco like feel when the train comes rolling through, Armena is never the first place people think of, when they think “Classic PBL Diamond.”

Snubbed in a recent PBL poll on the blogs, Anniversary Park has received zero votes so far out of 38 in, “What’s your favourite diamond to play at in the PBL?”

The most likely culprit – boulders and rocks in the infield.

Despite a yearly pilgrimage by Armena teams to rid the infield of its solid granulized nemeses for good, the rocks keep coming back year after year.

Adding to the mess was a few years of neglect when the team transformed into the Axemen and soon became embroiled in a silent feud with the Armena Rec Association. Weeds grew, the grass was long some nights, the park’s reputation slowly slid downward.

Now, with the Royal moniker back, some home-grown talent to help mend the infield and mow the grass, Anniversary Park looked as good as new last Thursday in an exhibition game against the Camrose Axemen. The Rec Association’s backing also helped. You’ll notice new bases and a new home plate thanks to them.

A lot of the credit goes to local Josh Lyseng, and long-time Armena all-star Joel Boettger, who each have put in many hours to prepare the field for a 2009 haul.

After a year of survival both on, off and actually inside the dirt, Armena is back to regain its spot as one of the best – maybe not the most winningest – but at least an enjoyable place to come play a little ball.

And if it intimidates a couple teams with a couple boulders kickin’ around, then we won’t lose any sleep over getting snubbed in the poll next year either. Hey we did our best – “Ten minutes here, let’s pick up a load of rocks each to end practice,” Banack says.

And the rocks just keep coming back. Much like Armena baseball.

Posted on May 14,2009 by Jason Buzzell