Team Manitoba, 18U Sultans play tune-up game in advance of nationals

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This article was published 11/08/2022 (998 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

by CASSIDY DANKOCHIK

Baseball fans in Steinbach were treated to a quality match-up Aug. 3, as the provincial champion Carillon Sultans 18U team took on the Canada Games Team Manitoba squad at A.D. Penner Park for a tune up game.

Both teams will be heading to their respective tournaments in August, with the Canada Games beginning with the opening ceremony on Aug. 6, and baseball for Manitoba beginning with a game against Newfoundland and Labrador on Aug. 7.

After seven innings of play, the Sultans had a 4-3 lead. Both coaches decided to play a full nine innings, and luckily, the light held up for the extra game time.

Cody Benson is the head coach of Team Manitoba. He noted after the game the Manitoba roster was missing players from western Manitoba.

In addition to the game against Carillon, Team Manitoba has played exhibition games against junior and senior teams from the province.

“We’re going in with high hopes,” Benson said.

“We’ve had a pretty good run with the tournaments we’ve been to with our full team. We’re going there and hoping to compete for a medal at least.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has wrecked havoc on the usual team-building process for Benson, considering the Canada Summer Games are usually held once every two years.

“It’s pretty well been a three year process trying to get this going,” he said.

“Then we finally got it going with the weather this spring, all the rain and stuff, we didn’t get outside as a group until June.”

Anders Meilleur (St Adolphe), Cody Gunderson (St Malo) and Cody Wielgosh (Beausejour) are members of both teams. During the exhibition, Meilleur and Gunderson suited up for the Sultans, with Wielgosh pulling on a Team Manitoba jersey.

Carillon as a region has been producing strong baseball teams. In 2022 the 15U and 18U AAA teams won their respective provincial championships, with the 13U team coming up short in the final of theirs. All three teams will be going to national championships later this month.

“You guys have been at the top and it’s been a really good year,” Benson said.

“I coach the winter program out of Home Run (Sports), so we probably have half this Carillon team in that program too, so it’s nice to see those guys do well.”

The Canada Games baseball team is a 17U team, with a couple overage players allowed on the squad.

“We’re excited, it’s coming quick, and we’re excited to get going,” Benson said, noting the summer has flown by.

The final games of the Canada Games will be on Aug. 13. As of Aug. 2, Team Manitoba had a record of 2-2, with championship round games set to begin Aug. 4.

The 18U Sultans will be in Fort McMurray to start their national championships Aug. 18. Unfortunately for the squad, they’ll be without Gunderson, who is set to begin his post-secondary career while the tournament is on.