Triple Crown Showdown sets record

The Triple Crown Showdown didn’t just break its record for teams this year, it absolutely shattered it.

The annual baseball tournament, which is staged at Brandon’s Simplot Millennium Park, has actually split into two weekends, with 38 AA and AAA teams in the 13-and-under and 15U divisions this weekend, and a dozen 11U teams next weekend, drawing from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario.

That gives the 22-year-old Showdown a total of 50 clubs, well over the previous high of 30. In Year 1, they had a total of 13 teams in two divisions.

“We sold out early this year,” organizer Faron Asham said. “We had waiting lists in all divisions. We’ve actually upped the divisions, going to four in two age groups and we had to move the 11U AAs to a separate weekend because of demand. We’ve bitten off a lot so hopefully we’re able to chew.”

The U11 tournament could still grow as some of the teams north of Brandon that were interested but affected by flooding make their final decision about whether they can attend.

The first games in all four divisions begin today at 8 a.m., with the finals starting on Sunday afternoon or early evening.

The tournament has 12 teams in 13U AAA, 10 in both 13U AA and 15 AAA and six in 15U AA. They capped the latter at six to try a round-robin format, with the team sporting the best record earning the prize money.

Asham said 38 squads is probably maximum capacity, although they’ve considered adding two more 15U AA teams.

“It’s the strain on the umpires,” Asham said. “We’re at that tipping point.”

The 13U AAA division will have three pools of four, with the top three teams going into a power pool, with another round-robin. In the 10-team divisions, it’s two pools of five, with the pool winners meeting in a cross-over final.

“We’re putting an emphasis on literally every game you play,” Asham said. “You have to manage your pitching. You really can’t afford to take a game off because it could bite you in the end.”

It’s not a massive group running the event. Asham serves as event director, and his son Dustin — who actually manages Simplot Park — is on hand with his grounds crew to help out. Triple Crown Indoor Sports Facility director of operations Aaron Tycoles serves as draw master and Asham’s brother Ferlin is the umpire-in-chief.

It’s a small group, but they bring a lot of experience.

“We’ve got a pretty nice template,” Asham said. “I’ve been around for a while and the people who are helping me have been around and through it. Dustin is now running the operations and he’s played in it. It’s nice. It’s a checkmark on the calendar.

“There’s always going to be something that comes up, whether it’s weather related or player eligibility related, but that’s what we’re there for. We try to solve them as they arise.”

The organizing crew sets up its headquarters right in the middle of the facility, and Asham is there all day to deal with questions or concerns.

There are teams in each division from Brandon, Midwest (north of the TransCanada Highway), Oildome (south of the highway) and Pembina Valley. Parkland has two teams in the Showdown. There is no admission fee.

“Everything is on the increase, from field rentals to umpires to all the incidentals that go with running a tournament, so we tossed around the idea of having admission,” Asham admitted. “At the end of the day, this is for the fans and parents who bring the players to it. Without them, the tournament doesn’t run, so no admission.

“You’re free to come and go as you please, we just ask that you maybe support the local canteen, which is being run by Brandon Minor Baseball.”

NICE REBOUND

Not that long, the pandemic battered the event, which had drawn 30 teams and had all eight diamonds going in 2019 before the world shut down in 2020 and 2021.

The event returned in 2022, and in 2023 still had just 13 teams. They finally got back to 30 a year ago.

“We’ve far exceeded that at every level and expanded,” Asham said. “We’re at our near capacity for fields and umpires. We bring umpires from all over the province. We want the most experienced and qualified umpires that we can find, and Ferlin does a great job.

“… We know there is a lot at stake and we want it to be played out on the field.”

A big draw is the facility itself, which has a canteen and washrooms to service the eight diamonds. That allows Asham to keep everything in one place.

“I don’t think we would be able to do it at multiple sites,” Asham said. “It’s right there, we use all eight diamonds, there are practice fields, batting cages. It’s a hub of activity out there. Sometimes our biggest concern out there is parking but we’ve used some overflow in the past and we anticipate that happening again this year.”

Every team is guaranteed five games, which are scheduled for seven innings with no time limits.

“We go into extra innings,” Asham said. “There are no ties. It’s full baseball rules.”

Baseball Manitoba’s mercy rules will be in effect, which is 10 runs up after four innings.

The work begins almost immediately after the previous year’s event ends when they begin taking entries for the next season. A big part of its expansion comes because they have nearly 100 per cent of their teams signing up year after year, which speaks to the esteem the event is held in.

Each club has to send an email to Asham expressing their interest in the next year’s event, which allows him to time stamp communication for the first-come, first-served tournament. They then have 72 hours to pay.

“The planning starts literally an hour after the last pitch of last year’s tournament,” Asham said. While it’s become a massive event, it also has outsized impact on the local baseball scene.

He noted the Brandon teams play a lot of league games in Winnipeg or at least out of region, so it’s a break for the players and their parents too.

“It’s huge,” Asham said. “We get that all the time, that both the AA and AAA teams get to stay at home and sleep in their own beds. It gives them a weekend without travel of playing the best of the best.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com