The Saskota Baseball League held their annual spring meeting earlier this week, ahead of a brand new season on the diamonds in south east Saskatchewan.

News out of the annual meeting saw the Wawota Pats take a year leave of absence, while the Kipling Royals will join to bring the league back up to ten teams.

"It's just a numbers thing right now, they just couldn't get enough guys," explained Saskota President, David Lemieux. "It's difficult to be chasing guys around on game day, so they decided to take the leave."

Starting on Tuesday, May 15th, the Estevan Tower Wolves will start their quest to defend the Harbourne Memorial Trophy, after they edged the Oxbow Chiefs in last years championship, 6-5.

Looking ahead to the new season, Lemieux is excited to get the ball rolling on what he expects to be another classic year in the Saskota Baseball League.

"The league seems to be getting stronger and more even every year. I think we had nine out of ten teams enter provincials last year which is probably the most ever. It's important that teams are getting exposure with playing higher caliber teams, our teams seem to be realizing that they can play at a high level and they starting entering tournaments and practicing more, its helped our league."

"We always welcome the new teams, but it's good to see the same faces year after year. I think this will be 20 years for me and you really look forward to seeing them come spring time," Lemieux concluded.

The league schedule is expected to be posted by Wednesday, May 9th. Click here for more details on the Saskota Baseball League.