A positive attitude has gone a long way for the Albert Lea Knights 14A baseball team.

Along with qualifying for the Minnesota Tournament Baseball state playoffs, the Knights were presented with an award for outstanding sportsmanship.

The Knights received the Real Winning Team Award Monday at the baseball field east of Southwest Middle School from Youth 1st in partnership with the Minnesota Twins Community Fund, the Owatonna Huskies Bullpen Club and the City of Owatonna.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to reward the right behavior, not only for the players and coaches, but everyone associated with the team: parents, fans and spectators,” said Youth 1st president and founder Mark Arjes. “It’s placing an emphasis on what is the most important part of youth sports and the game of baseball.”

The award was based on conduct observed by umpires during a tournament at Owatonna on June 7 and 8.

Along with the award, the Knights were given 12 tickets to see the Twins host the Tigers on Aug. 23.

Knights coach Jeff Grandstand hasn’t been keeping track of his team’s record, but he said he’s seen his team grow throughout the summer.

“We win some and we lose some, but the kids have really progressed as the season went on,” Grandstrand said. “I know for a fact that we’ve improved. Everybody’s improving every week.”

Arjes said presenting the award is one of his favorite parts of the job.

“It’s great,” he said. “It involves the parents and families, and hopefully what we’re teaching today is that it’s not how many games you win, it’s how many teams you win.”

The Knights qualified for the state tournament by taking second place at a tournament June 8 at Blue Earth.

The Knights will play their opening round game of the MTB 14-15A state tournament at Lakeville at 12:30 p.m.