A local baseball team in Lloydminster has made it all the way to Florida to compete in a world tournament.
The Twin Canadians Baseball team is full of local boys ages 11 and under that have been playing together for about a year before they decided to participate in the ESPN Wide World of Sports tournament. Manager and Mother Amanda Spence says they came into the tournament not expecting much but to play the game they love.
“They’ve had a great experience. We’ve had five days with them at the park, we’ve played six games of baseball and we’ve actually won three games, which we kind of didn’t think was going to happen. We kind of thought we were in over our heads, but we won three, lost two and tied one.”
Currently, the team is on day five of an eight-day trip that involves six baseball games.
The team had to raise enough money to send all the kids to the tournament. Spence says they raised money through hosting their own tournament last year in the City, as well as hosting a steak night at the Canadian Brewhouse. The team also had sponsors that brought their total to $25,000 raised for the tournament.
The team is not part of an association, but eight out of the ten players on the team play in the Lloydminster Minor Ball Association. Six children play for the Mosquito AA, two play for the Pee Wee A and two are on the Pee Wee AA team.
11-year-old Dexson Oakes is part of the team and also plays for the Pee Wee AA Twins. He says not only has the tournament helped him to improve his skills but also bond with his teammates.
“We play teams from all over like Panama, Florida and Texas. I’ve had a really good time meeting new people and having fun playing ball.”
The ESPN tournament is comprised of teams from the ages of eight and under to 18 and under. For the Twin Canadians team, there are seven teams in their division and their final will be held on Friday.