The Canadian dollar’s dramatic dip is a boon for Montanans looking for a cheap getaway north of the border.

It’s not so great for Kalispell’s American Legion baseball team.

Despite five teams canceling their appearance citing financial concerns, the annual Canadian Days Tournament begins Friday with the first three games of the six-team, three-day tournament at Griffin Field and Archie Roe Field in Kalispell.

“It was a little unfortunate this year,” Kalispell Lakers AA coach Ryan Malmin said of the slimmed down field.

“Usually Legion schedules are pretty much 99 percent done in middle of December. It’s pretty tough to switch dates in January and February when everyone’s set their schedule. We made contact with 10-20 teams in Montana, Idaho and Washington to see if we could get anyone to come.”

The Lakers will be joined in the AA field by the Mission Valley Mariners and Calgary Redbirds. The Class A field includes the Redbirds A and Lakers A teams along with the Calgary Cardinals.

Last season, Calgary’s AA team featured now-Atlanta Braves prospect and first-round MLB draft choice Mike Soroka, and Malmin expects another tough Calgary team this year.

“It’s kind of a good rivalry we’ve developed with them the last couple of years,” he said. “They’ve been here for a number of years and it’s always great to play against those guys.”

The Lakers enter Friday’s action at 13-4 behind a terrific offense that boasts a .305 team batting average through 17 games. Five different regulars are batting above .300, led by Spencer Pisk’s .423 average in 11 games. Andrew Schleusner, a Montana State-Billings commit, is batting .333 with a sparkling .474 on-base percentage, and Joe Broughton leads the team with 23 RBIs and eight extra-base hits.

“We like some of the pieces of the puzzle that we have right now,” Malmin said. “I’m really pleased with our team speed and our offensive game has been pretty good for us. We’re hitting about .376 with runners in scoring position and that’s played a huge role in the outcome of games.”

On the mound, the Lakers were inexperienced coming into the season but have been boosted by strong performances from Dawson Smith and Leif Ericksen. Smith, just 16 years old, is 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA in 29 innings. Ericksen’s been nearly as good, going 2-1 with a 1.91 ERA.

Action begins Friday at 5 p.m. at Griffin Field when the Mariners will take on the Redbirds AA. The Lakers AA will meet the Cardinals immediately afterward at 7:30.

One game is scheduled for Friday at Archie Roe Field, with the Redbirds A and Lakers A tangling at 5:30.

Canadian Days Tournament

Schedule

Friday

Griffin Field

5 p.m. — Mission Valley Mariners vs. Calgary Redbirds AA

7:30 p.m. — Kalispell Lakers AA vs. Calgary Cardinals

Archie Roe Field

5:30 p.m. — Calgary Redbirds A vs. Kalispell Lakers A

Saturday

Griffin Field

9 a.m. — Lakers A vs. Redbirds AA

11:30 a.m. — Redbirds A vs. Mariners

2 p.m. — Mariners vs. Lakers AA

4:45 p.m. — Cardinals vs. Redbirds A

7:15 p.m. — Lakers AA vs. Redbirds AA

Archie Roe Field

1 p.m. — Lakers A vs. Cardinals

Sunday

Griffin Field

10 a.m. — Class A 2nd place vs. Class A 3rd place

12:45 p.m. — Class A 1st place vs. Class AA 3rd place

3:30 p.m. — Class AA 1st place vs. Class AA 2nd place