While most summer sports have been cancelled in Prince George by virtue of the COVID-19 pandemic, one local league is still holding out.
The Prince George Senior Men’s Baseball League (PGSBL) is waiting to hear from a number of outlets to see if they can have a 2020 season.
It’s now been a month since players were set to take the field, but PGSBL President Kalen Kirkpatrick explains the five-team league isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.
“We are just playing the waiting game right now and seeing how this all plays out,” he said to PrinceGeorgeMatters.
As of this publication, Northern Health has 65 positive cases of COVID-19 since the virus hit B.C., but all of them have recovered and no longer require isolation.
“As of right now, we haven’t received the green light from the government or the city to resume baseball activities,” Kirkpatrick adds.
“We are told that we may be able to resume training activities soon, but a timeline for games is to be determined.”
As of May 21, the City of Prince George has reopened ball diamonds like Citizen Field, where the PGSBL hosts its games, but groups that wish to book them are required to submit an annual rental agreement as well as a ‘return-to-play’ plan.
As the league waits for it’s next pitch, the 2019 PGSBL season award winners and all-stars have also been announced.
Curtis Sawchuk was named Most Valuable Player after taking the top spot in seven of the league’s stats sheets, including hits (24), RBIs (27) and runs-scored (25).
The pitcher also struck out a league-high 78 batters and earned eight wins in the process.
His Queensway Auto World Mariners fell in the championship final last summer to the JRJ Construction Orioles.
Sawchuk also received an all-star nod, along with the following players (in alphabetical order):
- Chris Allard - D.O.B Contracting Gladiators
- Reg Barry - Inland Control and Services Tigers
- Doug Clark - D.O.B Contracting Gladiators
- Angelo Desantis - Inland Control and Services Tigers
- Brandon Hunter - Queensway Auto World Mariners
- Myles Kazakoff - Queensway Auto World Mariners
- Cole Waldie - JRJ Construction Orioles
- Paul Wilson - JRJ Construction Orioles
