Baseball Sask is once again the envy of the Baseball Canada world.
For a record 10th time since 1986, the organization was named Province of the Year by the federal body during its annual national awards banquet in Halifax, Nova Scotia in November.
Scoring first in Governance as well as Coach and Umpire Development while finishing near the top of the country in Program Delivery and Membership, Baseball Sask executive director Mike Ramage says he was elated to accept the award alongside Regan L’Heureux and Scott Mills.
“This is a tremendous honour and it shows that our team put in a massive amount of work – and it paid off,” he told Saskatchewan Dugout Stories. “The staff at Baseball Sask sets a goal each year of striving to win this award.”
Ramage says it was a banner year for his organization on a number of fronts and is quick to thank everyone involved for their hard work.
He adds it sets the stage for another important year in 2025.
A TEAM EFFORT
With more than 19,000 kids registering with Baseball Sask teams in 2024, Ramage says it was a huge undertaking to meet the demand.
He says it was important for everyone on the staff to be on the same page to operate and support Baseball Canada programs, which provide them with opportunities like the Rally Cap Program, national championships and the annual awards.
When it comes to coach and umpire development, Ramage says it was important to make sure both urban and rural communities felt supported with their diverse sets of needs.
That meant many hours of hard work put in by Mills, who is the umpire supervisor, as well as Greg Brons and Nolan Bracken, who lead Baseball Sask’s coaching program.
Seeing the coaches succeed helped guide Saskatchewan teams to wins on the field at nationals, with the Men’s Team capturing silver while the Canada Cup and Ray Carter Cup rosters finished in fourth and the 18U team finishing in fifth.
OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND
Ramage says one major change they have made over the years has been to create a ranking system to give more communities an opportunity to host major events like provincials.
“In the past, there would be zone playoffs, and you would need to play to qualify to attend the championship that you entered that was based on population of your community,” Ramage said. “This led to many teams not even entering as they knew they had a slim chance to beat a certain team in their zone to qualify for provincials.”
With the new system, a playoff committee and division supervisors are able to rank all teams that enter to host provincials, and they decide which tier that teams will play in, based on skillset, league standings and tournament results up to that point.
“Now, all teams entering our provincial playoffs will get the opportunity to compete in a provincial championship based on their ability and, more often than not, play in meaningful games,” he continued. “In 2024, we had 315 teams enter our provincials and had 43 provincial championship host sites.”
With more communities able to host big events, the more opportunities for community-building and pride in stepping up to the plate.
HARD WORK PAYING OFF
The growth of the female program in the province has been a point of pride for Baseball Sask over the last few years.
2024 was another big year for growth in that area, with Saskatchewan taking home the silver medal at the 21U Baseball Canada Championships while the 14U, Girls, 16U Girls and Senior Women all advanced to the bronze medal games but fell short of the podium.
READ MORE: Celebrating Baseball Sask’s Best in 2024
Ramage says the development of the entire program from top to bottom has been nothing short of incredible.
“We really started to see results when Tony Black took over as the provincial female supervisor,” he said.
“His goal was to improve the female baseball program over the years and his hard work has very much paid off.”
In 2023, the organization hired Tyson Black as a new full-time employee with the primary responsibility of developing female athletes.
Ramage says that has also had a major impact on how the province is represented on national teams, including Saskatoon’s Amy Johnson being named to the Women’s National Team for the last three years with several others now knocking on the door.
BREAKING OUT THE CRYSTAL BALL
With the calendar set to flip to 2025, Ramage has his sights set on even more wins.
Not only would he like to see Baseball Sask capture an 11th Province of the Year from Baseball Canada, he believes the province has enough talent to win a few more medals at national championships.
It’s also a big year as the Canada Summer Games in St. John’s, Newfoundland will, for the first time, see girls baseball involved.
Ramage says Baseball Sask will be sending a male and female team to the games.
And after hosting the 16U Girls Championships in Saskatoon in 2024, the province will play host to another major national event next summer as well.
“The Regina Trappers will be hosting the 2025 Baseball Canada Senior Men’s Championship in Regina from Aug. 21-24,” Ramage said. “The Trappers will be looking to avenge their back-to-back silver medals at this event and replace them with a gold.”
He adds it will all start at the grassroots, providing as much funding and resources as possible to keep growing the game of baseball in Saskatchewan.
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