On a night young James Torraville and his family have been eagerly anticipating for weeks, Mother Nature rained on the parade.
A heavy downpour Friday afternoon left Citizen Field a soggy mess, forcing organizers of the Northland Dodge Prince George Senior Men's Baseball League to postpone the all-star game and home run derby and reschedule it for Sunday afternoon.
Six-year-old James, who has been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia since he was 2 1/2, was looking forward to seeing heavy hitters Evan Potskin, Brandon Hunter, Brandon Graham, Jon Bourassa, Chris Clark, Angelo Desantis, Adam Norn and Jared Young clear the fences in the home run derby, but he'll have to wait until Sunday at 1 p.m.
Hopefully, for the sake of James and his family and all the ball players involved, the sun will be shining on and the derby and all-star game (at 2 p.m.) will proceed as scheduled. The event, which also includes a silent auction, is a fundraiser for James and his family to help defray the costs of traveling to and from Vancouver for his cancer treatments.
The Environment Canada forecast for Sunday calls for cloudy skies and a high of 22 C with a 60 per cent chance of showers.
This is the second year the league has organized an all-star game. Players for this year's Team Wilson versus Team Norn matchup were picked based on season statistics so far. Most of the players also represent the city in out-of-town tournaments playing for the Prince George Grays.
The roster for Team Wilson includes captain Paul Wilson, Kalen Kirkpatrick, Buck Schmidt, Brandon Hunter, Tanner Wheeler, Scott Atherton, Craig Horswell, Graham Allard, Cory Taylor, Dan Giesbrecht, Chris Clark, Calvin Todd and Cole Laviolette.
Playing for Team Norn are captain Adam Norn, Darren Barnes, Chris Allard, Brandon Graham, Cole Waldie, Jared Young, Jordan Patterson, Angelo Desantis, Jon Bourassa, Lyle Boutin, Evan Potskin, Murray Laidlaw and Kim Callander.
Admission is by donation.
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