Kindersley Bantam Royals – (Back row l-r) Kim Tuffs, Darren Martens, Seth Krahn, Noah Martens, Tylin Hilbig, Ethan Hilbig, Markus Martens, Byron Smith, Blain Hilbig; (front row l-r) Rob Nutley, Trey Tuffs, Brody Gasmo, Rylan Nutley, Gabe Esto, Hunter Smith, Logan Linklater.

Clarion Staff

The Kindersley Bantam Royals are nearing the end of a successful season with two tournament wins including a dominating performance in Macklin last weekend.

The tournament in Macklin was held on July 7-8 and there were six teams in the tournament. The Bantam Royals won all four of their games to win their second tournament championship of the 2018 season. The team also won a tournament in Saskatoon at the end of June.

According to Coach Blain Hilbig, the tournament in Macklin is the fourth tournament the team has played in 2018 and the team has an overall record of 14-2 in tournament play. The team has an overall record of 20-3 in 2018.

The Royals were in a pool with the White Butte Broncos and Gull Lake Greyhounds. The team went perfect in the round robin winning its first game 12-6 over White Butte, and winning its second game 12-2 over Gull Lake. The team crossed over to play the Lloydminster Twins in the semi-final on Sunday.

The team had another convincing win against Lloydminster taking the game by a score of 9-2, and then it was on to the finals to play the host Macklin Lakers. The sixth team to play in the tournament was the Estevan Twins.

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Tylin Hilbig, who has earned a tryout with the Saskatchewan 15U Bantam Select Team, was the starting pitcher for the Royals in the semi-final versus Lloydminster. Tylin went six and a third innings with 14 strikeouts. Noah Martens shut the door getting the final two outs of the seventh inning.

Coach Hilbig noted that Markus Martens had a big game with two hits and a walk in three plate appearances. Shortstop Seth Krahn made a leaping catch to rob a batter of extra bases and the effort was one of several strong defensive plays in a “total team effort.”

The coach recognized that Macklin is a long-time rival of the Royals and the two teams matched up in the final. Kindersley doubled up Macklin by a score of 8-4 to take the tournament. Ethan Hilbig got the nod to start in the final.

It was another strong performance on the mound with Ethan throwing 95 pitches over six innings with 13 strikeouts. Noah came in to pitch the final inning to close out the game. As for the flow of the game, the Royals got off to a slow start in the final trailing 2-1 to the host team after the third inning.

The Royals were winning 5-4 going into the seventh and final inning, and the team managed to put three runs on the board in the top half of the inning. It was more than enough to earn the championship. The team doubled up two opponents and hammered its other opponents in its four wins.

Blain noted that the Lakers went three up and three down in the bottom half of the seventh inning. A total of seven players had at least one RBI in the final and the coach highlighted the team’s depth as a strong point.

In an interview, Blain said every member of the team made a contribution in Macklin on the weekend. He described a dream scenario for any minor ball coach with the team playing really well in every facet of the game.

“They had some clutch hits and we scored quite a few runs,” the coach said, recognizing that the team played really well in the field and the pitching was excellent. “Our pitching was right there. We had lots of strikeouts, but it also allowed our defence to make lots of plays in the infield and outfield.”

Blain said the team has the most depth among its pitchers out of any team he has coached. He added that, as a coach, he does not get to use all of the guys as much as he would like to use them, but it is part of setting the team up for success.

The coach wrote that Tylin is heading to Moose Jaw on July 15 for the tryout with the Saskatchewan 15U Bantam Select Team. If he makes the squad, he will represent the province at the 15U Baseball Canada National Championship in Ottawa on Aug. 23-25. Tylin is one of 30 players to be invited to Moose Jaw.

A total of 93 players took part in the initial 15U team tryout in Regina including Tylin, his brother Ethan and Krahn from the Bantam Royals. Blain says all three players had a really good tryout and each of them excelled on the mound.

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