The home runs get the headlines, but quite often it’s the little things like advancing a base runner or turning the double play that leads to a winning baseball organization.

The Okotoks Minor Baseball Association received the Baseball Alberta Large Association of the Year at a banquet in Edmonton Saturday. Okotoks received the award for doing the little things — and some rather big things — right, said Baseball Alberta spokesman Brad Wolansky.

“The award is for the association we have the easiest time dealing with, basically,” Wolansky said. “They get the registration in on time, they pay on time, they complete things in a thorough way.”

A good ball team also always has quality players on the bench in case of an emergency.

The Okotoks association hit a home run for Baseball Alberta when it hosted the 2008 Western Canada championships for Peewee, Bantam and Midgets after a northern Alberta community pulled out.

“The volunteers in the (Okotoks) association are willing to step up to the plate,” Wolansky said. “Okotoks has never been afraid to host anything for Baseball Alberta which makes it a lot easier for us.

“They really helped out two years ago, when another association backed out and Okotoks stepped up.”

The Okotoks association has hosted a provincial or Western Canada final tournament for each of the last three years, including this year when the Okotoks Outlaws won the Alberta Peewee championship.

Okotoks association president Glen Sinclair accepted the award on behalf of the organization Saturday in Edmonton.

“We pride ourselves on getting the paper work done,” Sinclair said in an interview last week. “This award is a result of the work of quite a few volunteers. The group that is in the executive right now is reaping the benefits of a lot of hard work of lots of others in previous years.”

Being willing and able to take on tasks like hosting championships likely knocked it out of the park with Baseball Alberta, according to Sinclair.

“Hosting Westerns was a huge endeavour and we took it on in an emergency situation,” Sinclair said.

Enrolment numbers for Okotoks Minor Baseball have surpassed Ichiro’s batting average.

Sinclair estimates there are 460 ball players in the Okotoks Minor Baseball Association. It has steadily increased 15 to 25 per cent over the years.

Wolansky said the fact the Okotoks baseball has continued to grow over the past few years was a factor in receiving the award.

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