Blizzards after provincial crown
Locals to host peewee AA baseball championship this weekend
The New Glasgow DQ Blizzards will host Peewee AA baseball provincials Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 at the Kinsmen complex in New Glasgow.
“Our strength would be our pitching,” said coach Mike Lochead. “We hit the ball quite well and defensively we do OK.”
The coach said his team is “solid up the middle” and that Lane Lochead and Jax Graham “are our go-to guys” when it comes to mound work. Cole Battist, Carter Dickson and Keenan DeCoste are also leaned upon to provide solid pitching.
Teams from Hants North, Kentville, Springhill and Yarmouth will also take part in the tournament and the Blizzards have had success against all of those teams.
The Blizzards went 2-1-1 in four games against Springhill this season, swept Yarmouth in a doubleheader and had 2-0 records
against both Kentville and Hants North.
The Blizzards play Hants North at noon on Friday and have a
5 p.m. game against Yarmouth. A Saturday game against Kentville is slated for 11:30 a.m.
The Blizzards put the work in this summer leading up to the provincial championships.
“They practice pretty hard when they’re here, they’re a fun group to coach,” Lochead said.
“Now they just have to show up and do all the little things right.”
Jax Graham, in addition to his pitching duties, is also a shutdown defender in centerfield, according to his coach.
“We have a shortage of players now and then but everyone’s playing well, and we have a good chance at provincials,” said Graham,
who also stated that playing at home doesn’t bring added pressure, but is an advantage for the Blizzards.
“I think it helps us, because we know this field.”
Lane Lochead, a versatile player with the Blizzards, recently played for Nova Scotia at the peewee national championships in London, Ont. In 20 at bats, he had eight hits for a .400 average and pitched 8.1 innings for Nova Scotia, who went 3-3 in the tournament.