Carillon Sultans minor baseball looking to continue successful run

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This article was published 08/04/2024 (449 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Over the past decade, the Carillon Sultans baseball program has grown into one of the best minor baseball organizations in Mantioba.

The Sultans will look to continue that success this year, as ball season fast approaches. Louis Cote is a co-president of the Carillon Sultans minor program.

“We’ve got high numbers for (high-performance) as usual, so we’ll be having a couple teams at those levels,” Cote said.

“Local registration is going on as well… and I’m quite sure those will be up pretty high as well because we’ve been trending up every year.”

Cote thinks those strong registration numbers have been driven by a realization baseball is a great cross-training sport for the summer, the birth of Carillon AA teams and the increase of the quality of coaching across the region.

“The 18U team is successful because they got good training and coaching at 13U,” Cote said.

The region is starting to produce top baseball prospects, with Cody Gunderson nabbing a NCAA division one scholarship this season, and many players joining collegiate programs in both Canada and the United States. Three players who are set to graduate this season could grab scholarships this season.

Dayton Christenson has already announced his commitment, signing with Lake Region State College.

Those high-level players are also now starting to return and give back to the program.

“We’re seeing a lot of guys coming back who have played college baseball and are now coaching AAA teams,” Cote said.

“These kids are getting quality coaching because of that.”

Cote said the region is always looking for umpires because of the high turnover rate for officials.

Carillon baseball is one of the most respectful places for an umpire to be in Manitoba, with Cote saying no high performance coach has been ejected in the past decade, with only a single local coach needing to be tossed from a game in that same timeframe.

“Multiple years ago we put a focus on umpires being treated properly on the field by the coaches and the players, and it’s really reflective in how it is,” Cote said.

“We have very few complaints, and we’ve had a lot of compliments on how our kids behave on the field towards umpires.”

Carillon’s 18U AAA team should be a strong group this year, with a strong class of 2007/2007-born players making the leap. The Sultans lost in the provincial final last year, after winning Manitoba in 2022.

“We’re still putting our staff together,” Cote said on the 18U team.

“They should be very successful. They’ve been building towards this year for multiple years.”

The lower age groups are also in line for a fun season, with Ile des Chenes hosting the combined 13U and 15U provincial AAA championships this year.