By Andrew Serba
Posted 7 hours ago
Baseball returned to the Lakeland in 2011 with the resurrection of the Lakeland Baseball League, an effort that organizers hope will continue on for another strong season in the summer of 2012.
The league was started last year in large part to give Lakeland teams a chance to play at home. Before the league was restarted, most teams in the area went through a baseball season travelling to tournaments and only had a chance to play in front of a home crowd if they hosted a tournament themselves.
League president and St. Paul Cubs player Corey de Mossiac said years ago local baseball leagues provided communities with a chance to get out in the summer and enjoy family oriented entertainment.
"Talking to old timers, baseball in the Lakeland used to be really important," de Mossiac said. "It used to be that families would come out to watch games."
The league started last spring with four teams ? the St. Paul Cubs, Cold Lake Cardinals, Goodfish Lake Braves and the Lac La Biche Dodgers.
"We started out with four teams that were pretty competitive and we got a lot of rain in the Spring that kind of slowed us all down in the beginning, but we made it all up later," de Mossiac said. "All four teams really competed hard."
St. Paul defeated the Cold Lake Cardinals for the first league title. The Cardinals went into the playoffs in first place with a 6-2 record for 12 points while the Cubs trailed by one point with one game in hand and a 5-1-1 record.
At the start of the season crowds were sparse, but as word of the league spread all of the communities involved started to come out to watch their home team games.
Kevin Cyre of the Cardinals said the Cold Lake crowds were good to see out at the games. Word first spread among players' friends, and that's a solid fan base the team hopes to expand upon.
"We definitely had good support from the community with the attendance at the games," he said. "We had lots of excitement locally. Many players on the team were asked by people who know them to let them know when the next game was and stuff like that, so the word got out."
The same held true in other communities, de Mossiac added.
"It's very similar in St. Paul and I remember a couple of games that we had in Goodfish where it was packed all the way down the baselines; We had some pretty good games there," he said. "I think people started to know about the league as the season went on and they started to come out."
President de Mossiac said that while the league has not met to discuss the 2012 season yet, he expects the four teams from last year to return, with the possibility of one or two additions.
Word about a Bonnyville team and a potential squad from Vegreville has been circulating, but are nothing more than rumours until the league meets to organize for this spring.
Cyre said the Cardinals will start to put their team together as soon as winter weather completely leaves the region ? which generally happens in late April or early May.
"It's kind of like golf season," he said. "If the snow's off early and it's warm enough, we start practicing."
The Cardinals had a large roster last year, something they hope to maintain or even increase.
"We already have a few guys interested who asked me to call them (in 2012) and they'll start playing," he said. "We had a large number of players and in this area, a lot of guys work shift work, so we needed a team of 20 just to field 10, 11 or 12 every game."
Although St. Paul took the first title, de Mossaic said next year should shape up to be another season of competitive baseball, as all four teams had strong showings in the league's inaugural season.
"It turned into a pretty competitive league for the first year," he said. "We're kind of an older club and we've got some experience, but the other teams are younger and they're nipping at our heels for sure."
And with another season of competitive baseball, de Mossaic hopes that the crowds will grow and with them, so will the future of baseball in the Lakeland.
"I'm hoping the younger generations will come out and watch and want to play some baseball," he said.
Source: http://www.coldlakesun.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3423889
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