Last week, staff from AG Foods in Osoyoos presented Amy Bartsch, an executive member with the Osoyoos Minor Baseball Association, with a cheque for $900. Minor baseball returned to Osoyoos in 2015 and the program grew immensely this year with 40 more players signed up. Joining Bartsch (from left) were Bob Irwin, AG Foods assistant manager, lead hand Barry Rathgeber and store manager Derek Morgan. (Keith Lacey photo)
Minor baseball in Osoyoos is back and here to stay.
After more than a decade with no minor baseball in Osoyoos, local dentist Jason Bartsch and several of his friends organized the formation of the Osoyoos Minor Baseball Association for the spring of 2015.
The first year was a success with more than 80 players signing up.
Bartsch and his wife Amy were confident the league would grow in its second season and they were right as 126 players signed up to form nine teams from youngsters playing T-ball all the way to age 15.
“We had 40 more kids sign up this year and that is very encouraging,” said Amy, who is on the league executive. “We became affiliated with B.C. Minor Baseball Association this year and that meant we could have an interlocking schedule for the older kids, who played against teams from Keremeos and Princeton all the way to Kelowna.
“Being a part of that association also allowed us to enter tournaments and each team in our association had one tournament entry fee paid for, so we’re really making good progress for our second year.”
Through the first two years, local players have participated in a spring league that starts in April and ends in June just around the same time school is out for the summer, she said.
“Because of our success, we’ve had a lot of players and parents inquiring about possibly offering summer and fall leagues and we’ll be looking at that moving forward,” she said.
Early last week, Derek Morgan, the manager of AG Foods in Osoyoos handed over a cheque for $900 to Amy Bartsch and the Osoyoos Minor Baseball Association.
The local grocery store holds regular fundraising barbecues, with the proceeds going to local non-profit organizations and it was decided the local minor baseball association would be the recipient from the latest barbecue held over the August long weekend, said Morgan.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
