Photo Credit: Grande Prairie Minor Baseball Facebook page

By Shane Clausing

baseball

Grande Prairie Minor Baseball gearing up to head back to diamond

Mar 28, 2021 | 7:00 AM

Grande Prairie Minor Baseball is planning on heading back to the ball diamond for a full season in 2021.

Last year, Grande Prairie Minor Baseball was able to play a shortened season with under 100 kids because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Cailyn Pillipow, the Executive Director of Grande Prairie Minor Baseball, says while registration numbers will likely remain down this year, people are eager to get back to playing ball.

“We are getting a lot of interest. Unfortunately, our numbers are still down from where they were two years ago, but everyone that is signed up is really excited for the year.”

Pillipow says volunteers are hard at work preparing for a season, to make sure everything can go off smoothly and safely.

“We’re coming up with multiple contingency plans for how the season could look moving forward.”

Pending the green light of approval for the baseball season from Alberta Health Services, organizers say the season will likely run from the start of May until the end of June, while the AA program will play from the start of May until the middle of July.

“Our house league is going to get one practice and one game per week, while our AA team will be getting two practices, if not more, and then with game weekends they’ll have every other weekend,” explained Pillipow.

It is unknown at this moment if the AA team will be allowed to travel for games this season because of restrictions. However, Grande Prairie Minor Baseball is preparing to travel for games just in case.

The organization is also searching for umpires this season. You can learn more about becoming an umpire on their website.

The deadline for team registration for the 2021 baseball season is set for Wednesday, March 31.