22U – formerly called “Junior” – baseball will be returning to Prince Edward Island in 2021.
For the first time since 2015, a Prince Edward Island 22U Baseball League will be in operation across the province. Currently, at least four teams are planning to take part in the league; entries from West Prince, Summerside, the Capital region and Kings County, with potential for more. According to league president Alf Blanchard, this age category is a major gap in baseball on PEI.
“Over the past three years, there has been anywhere between ten and twelve 18U teams across the Island,” says Blanchard.
“That means there have been roughly between 130-170 players playing 18U. When they graduate from 18U, unless they make the jump to the KCBL, or the Junior or Senior teams in the New Brunswick leagues, there is nowhere for these players to play.
“The goal with this 22U league is to provide quality baseball for players between 19-22. It will not be a participation league; it will be very competitive. It should be great baseball to watch.”
The PEI 22U Baseball League will be a member of Baseball PEI, and executive director Randy Byrne is excited for the return of 22U play on PEI.
“Our 18U programming has grown over the past few years, and there is a real gap between 18U baseball and Intermediate or Senior. An Island 22U League is necessary, and the numbers are there for a successful league. If we can establish consistent 22U programming, that will incentivize more players who graduate high school to continue playing baseball. Eventually, it should mean better players at the KCBL/Intermediate or Senior levels.
“Last year, Alf (Blanchard) started exploring the feasibility of 22U baseball on PEI. Since a little over a year ago, Alf has done a lot of work getting things in place for this league, and with his leadership and the help of some core volunteers he has been working with over the past few months, this league will thrive.”
The PEI 22U Baseball League will be setting up a league website and social media platforms within the next month or two. While there are still details to be hammered out, the PEI 22U Baseball League is looking to start in late-May or early-June, and its regular schedule will finish around the end of July. Then, playoffs will take place during August and the league will wrap up by the Labour Day weekend.
For more information, contact league president Alf Blanchard at blanchardalf@gmail.com.
Position – Baseball PEI Provincial Rally Cap Coordinator
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Please label Cover Letters and Resumes “Provincial Rally Cap Coordinator” and address to “Baseball PEI – 2021 Hiring”. Submit via email to baseball@sportpei.pei.ca by no later than Thursday, 4 March 2021 at 4 pm. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Baseball PEI is pleased to announce that we will be holding P.D. Day Girls’ Baseball Camps – one at the Norton-Diamond Indoor Soccer Complex in Stratford and one at the Off the Wallz facility in Summerside – for girls between the ages of 6- and 13-years-old on Friday, 26 February 2021 from 9 am – 3 pm.
In both locations, these camps will be led by top female coaches and senior members of the Provincial 16U Girls baseball team. The goal of these camps is to teach baseball fundamentals and have a lot of fun (plus there will be door prizes at each location)!
These camps will be free! However, to participate, each player must register at BPEI.rampregistrations.com. It will be first-come, first-serve for registrations, so register as soon as possible. Due to space at the facilities, the Stratford camp will have a maximum of 30 participants while the Summerside camp will have a maximum of 25 participants (there will be a waitlist of 10 players in the case registered players drop out).
For more information, either email baseball@sportpei.pe.ca or joelynet@gmail.com.
Are you looking for a game like baseball that can be played inside a gymnasium or on a street?
Baseball 5, created by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), is a discipline of baseball/softball that can be played with only five players on a team and a small space. It is fast-moving, fun and a game that can be played by anybody.
For an explanation of Baseball 5, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-FPwfwlOiM.
For documents related to the rules and procedures of Baseball 5, check out https://www.wbsc.org/documents/c/baseball5.
For more information, email baseball@sportpei.pe.ca.
Do you have a photo of an old baseball team from PEI? Baseball PEI would love to see it!
Baseball PEI is hoping to collect old photographs of baseball teams from PEI. These could be minor baseball teams, Senior or Intermediate teams, or even teams that represented Prince Edward Island at National Championships. They could be teams from the 2000s or as far back as the 1930s! We welcome a photograph of any team that has ever played baseball on PEI.
Why are we asking for these? Baseball has been played on Prince Edward Island at least as far back as 1896. We would love to highlight the great history of baseball on PEI on social media and create a collection of photographs of baseball team on PEI.
If you have a photo you wouldn't mind sharing with us, so we could keep in our files and maybe even share on social media, please scan it, take a photograph of it, or get it to us by emailing baseball@sportpei.pe.ca.
Thanks in advance for your help!