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At long last, baseball season has arrived |
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Written by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff
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Tuesday, 13 May 2008 |
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PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN FIELDWORLD BASEBALL CHALLENGE
Seven other teams will be nipping at their heels this season, but the Tigers and Royals have the teeth to maintain their positions of dominance.
The 2008 PGSBL season starts next Tuesday at Prince George Citizen Field. The Tigers head into the new year as two-time defending playoff champions, while the Royals are two-time defending regular-season champs.
“I think everybody’s going to be a lot better than last year, but it’ll be Royals and Tigers one, two, I think,” said new league president Ryan Yorston, a member of the Barry Yip Remax/Moxie’s Gladiators.
The Tigers are powered offensively by the thunder stick of Adam Norn, who smacked four home runs last season to tie Evan Potskin of the Treasure Cove Pirates for the league lead in the category. The Tigers also feature Brodie Norn, the top pitcher in last year’s playoffs, Cory Therrien and Angelo Desantis, who was the 2007 playoff MVP. Meanwhile, Shallard and Shallard infielder Jason Docherty is one of the league’s elite players on defence and is dangerous at the plate.
As for the Royals, Bucky Schmidt, the 2007 league MVP, wears their uniform. Paul Wilson, Chris Chapman and Jason Cage -- the top pitcher during the regular season -- help to round out the Westwood roster.
The Tigers and Royals won’t have to wait long to renew acquaintances. They’ll play each other on Wednesday, with the opening pitch slated for 9 p.m.
Tuesday’s season-opening game will see the Gladiators step onto the field against the 15- to 18-year-old Prince George Citizen Knights at 6:30 p.m. In the first half of Wednesday’s double bill, the Pirates and the That’s Poker/TQ Insulators Titans will do battle.
Yorston, who replaced Dave Barry as league president, considers his own team -- the Gladiators -- as an up-and-comer. Last season, the Gladiators finished at 11-11 and didn’t really have a true pitcher on their roster. They were forced to get by on the arms of Yorston, Corey Bonnar and Chris Martin. But, this season, the Glads will be able to send hard-throwing Graham Allard out to the hill with regularity. Allard played for the BID Construction Grays in the PGSBL and B.C. Junior Baseball Association last season. The Allard twins, including Chris, were the Sedins of last year’s PGSBL draft, going 1-2 in the selection process.
“With Graham throwing around 90 (miles per hour), I think that will help quite a bit,” Yorston said with a laugh.
Other teams in the league are the Panago Predators and Quesnel Jacks.
Each team will play a 24-game regular season, which ends Aug. 9. Playoffs will follow.
The league is looking a year ahead to the World Baseball Challenge, an international event that will grace Citizen Field for the week of July 18-25, 2009. The six-team tournament will require many permanent and temporary upgrades to the facility, while local players are looking for an opportunity to play for the Axemen all-star team in that event.
The Axemen have three tournaments planned this season -- the Kelowna cash tournament on the July long weekend, the provincial championship, also in Kelowna on the August long weekend, and the Grand Forks International at the end of August.
n Local radio station CFIS 93.1 FM is scheduled to broadcast selected games during the 2008 PGSBL season.
“I think it’s really good,” Yorston said. “Lacrosse gets a lot of exposure. They do a great job and I think we’re right in behind them now. We’ll get more people out, get more kids interested in ball -- that would be nice, too.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 )
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