Moosomin will be home to new senior men’s baseball team this spring
February 6, 2023, 1:46 pm
Kara Kinna
Moosomin will be home to a Senior Men’s Baseball team this spring for the first time in decades.
The Moosomin Badgers Senior Men’s Baseball Team is being formed and will start playing in the Saskota Baseball League this spring against other teams in Southeast Saskatchewan such as Redvers, Kipling, Carnduff, Kenosee, Carlyle, Arcola, and Estevan.
While the team currently has some players and plans to go ahead with a season, the organizers are still looking for more players, as well as board members, and will be holding a players meeting on Monday, Feb. 13 in the Blue Moose Lounge at 7 pm for anyone interested in joining as a player or board member.
“We are looking for any players who are interested and any volunteers or people who are interested in being part of our board,” says team organizer and player Jake Weidenhamer.
“We have a small group we know who we’ve talked to, but we don’t know if there are other people out there who want to play and they don’t know about it. And we are looking for people who are interested in being board members, that is also a big focus for us right now.”
Weidenhamer says there has been talk about forming a senior baseball team in Moosomin for some time.
“I’m a teacher at the high school and Scott Sully is also a teacher there, and we’ve both played senior baseball elsewhere,” he says. “There wasn’t a senior baseball team here, so about four or five years ago we started coaching the 18U baseball team with the hopes that those guys could eventually play.
“We kind of lost momentum during Covid, and there wasn’t much baseball for a season, but we have a group of players who have graduated in the last two or three years that are available now to play senior baseball. And there is an awesome ball park here. We have the facilities to do it.
“The Moosomin Blue Jays hosted the Twilight 45-and-over last year and we were talking with them and a rep from Sask Baseball and they said it’s too bad there isn’t a team here and we said well we’re hoping to start one and that kind of got the ball rolling. And having the Twilights playing there kind of got things going.”
Weidenhamer says senior baseball is the same as senior hockey in that any age group is welcome right from younger players in their mid to late teens up to older players in their 40s.
“There is no age limit. I have seen players as young as 15 play in senior baseball and you see players all the way up into their mid 40s playing senior baseball. It just depends on your area and how many players you can find,” he says.
Weidenhamer says they are hoping to put together a team of about 20 players.
“The hope is we start out and we have a place for kids who graduate to continue to play ball. There are the seniors homes right across the street and they love watching baseball. We hope we get a good crowd out and get people on the deck at the back of the Sportsplex.
“And minor ball switched back to baseball a few years ago, so there’s a place now for these kids to come after minor ball.”
What’s the best thing about playing senior baseball?
“Probably the camaraderie,” says Weidenheimer. “It’s a great way to spend your summer outside on a lot of nice nights. It’s just fun.”
Weidenheimer says anyone interested in being a part of the team can come to the players meeting on February 13, or contact him at 204-747-4356 or Jake.Weidenhamer@secpsd.ca
The team has also started a Facebook page and can be found on Facebook at Moosomin Badgers Senior Men’s Baseball Team.
