Shortly after the Bantam Selects Zone Showcase in Regina earlier this month, coach Tom Copeland predicted that at least one of the five local bantams from his Zone 1 team would be chosen to represent Saskatchewan in the Fall Prospects Series held in Lethbridge on the Labour Day weekend.Turns out, Copeland's prediction was spot on.Austin Orsted was the lone player from Zone 1 (Estevan, Weyburn and area) named to the Team Sask 15-year-old development team.Orsted, who spent the spring and summer months playing shortstop for the Estevan bantam AA Sheritt Coal Haulers, will join 19 of the best bantam players in the province as they play against the best that Manitoba and Alberta has to offer, starting Sept. 3."I'm pretty happy about it," Orsted said on Saturday at Lynn Prime Park. "I thought I had a pretty good weekend (in Regina).""Pretty good" might be a bit of an understatement."In all reality, he had the tournament of his life," said Copeland. "He would've had the top batting average in the tournament by a long ways - he probably hit .750, .800 for the weekend. It was pretty obvious that there was no way they were going to be able to ignore him."Three days after returning from zones, Orsted said he got a call telling him that he had made the development team."I was pretty excited at the time. I was actually out on the boat when they called," he laughed, adding that he wasted little time getting a celebration started when he returned to shore.Orsted and the rest of the Saskatchewan 15-year-old development team kicks off the Fall Prospects Series on Sept. 3.
