The Pembina Hills Padres punched their ticket to nationals after a successful 2019 AAA Provincials.

Blaine Boyle is the head coach for the Padres and says that the team has kids from all over Central Manitoba.

"[We've got] a lot of Portage kids, we have two from Carberry, one from Clearwater, one Brandon kid, and one from the Interlake," says Boyle. "We picked up three kids from the Carillon team as they were eliminated in the qualifier."

Before provincials, the Padres won 5 consecutive games in the qualifying tournament. The Padres stayed undefeated during provincials and edged Winnipeg North in the final 1-0. Boyle notes that this group has had a lot of success.

"We were the first team in 40 years to win AAA Westerns and Peewee," says Boyle. "The guys from Portage have won 5 AA championships and a couple of high school championships and three of the boys have won 10 provincial championships in baseball. We know we have a great group there."

The Padres now have their sights set on the National Championships in London, Ontario. Nationals run from August 15-18. They will play Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island.