Home plate -- and everything else associated with the 2012 Baseball Canada Senior Championship -- will be linked directly to a local company that specializes in matching people with houses.
On Monday at the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, organizers of this summer's national tournament revealed that RE/MAX Centre City Realty has signed on as the title sponsor.
"RE/MAX is a leader in our great community and this announcement is a major step forward as Prince George looks ahead to seeing excellent baseball on the field in August," said tournament co-chair Jim Swanson. "This city has a tremendous track record of holding elite baseball tournaments, including the 2002 nationals and the 2009 and 2011 World Baseball Challenge events. In reality, sponsors such as RE/MAX are the ones who really make it happen."
Sue Lynch, RE/MAX Centre City manager, said the price tag of the title sponsorship was $10,000. In her view, it's money well spent.
"We took it as a great opportunity to not only help the community but certainly the families and the young kids," she said. "It just gave us an opportunity to help out in whatever capacity we could. Additionally, I happen to love baseball. I'm a big Blue Jays fan and if we can bring this calibre of teams to our fine city, that's the way to go."
The eight-team championship is Baseball Canada's premier event. It will be played Aug. 23-26 at Citizen Field and Rotary Field, both located in Carrie Jane Gray Park.
The Prince George Westcana Electric Axemen will be the host club. The Axemen will be joined by provincial champions from B.C. (Victoria Mavericks), Alberta (Fort Saskatchewan A's), Manitoba (to be determined), Ontario (to be determined), New Brunswick (Chatham Ironmen), Nova Scotia (Halifax Canadians) and Newfoundland (St. John's Capitals). The teams will be divided into two pools of four, and the top three from each will qualify for the playoff round.
A total of 18 games will be played. The championship final is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Aug. 26.
Tournament passes, which can be purchased through Ticketmaster, will go on sale Wednesday. Prices are $85 for adults and $75 for students and seniors. Day passes and single-game tickets will be available at the gate.
Prince George will become the first B.C. city to host the tournament twice. When it was last held here, the St. Albert Tigers beat the Saint John Alpines 7-6 in the final thanks to an extra-innings home run by Danny Mikitka.
The 2012 tournament logo, designed by Kim McClelland of Papyrus Printing, was also unveiled on Monday. The logo features a blue Baseball Canada Senior Championship banner -- highlighted by maple leaves -- stretching across the bottom half of a baseball. "RE/MAX Centre City" appears prominently on the ball.
.png;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)