Brock baseball celebrates community
Badgers hosts Ontario Blue Jays in Hometown Baseball showcase
Brock University is inviting the community to a free baseball game at George Taylor Field in
St. Catharines.
Weather permitting, Brock’s inaugural Hometown Baseball game Sunday will feature the Badgers hosting the Ontario Blue Jays, a heavily scouted team loaded with high-end talent. Gates open at noon and the first pitch is at 1 p.m.
Admission is free and the first 100 children through the gates will receive a Badgers baseball cap. The event includes food, face-painting as well as a family zone.
Formerly known as Community Park, George Taylor Field on Seymour Avenue in Merritton has been home to the Badgers for nearly 20 years.
Members of Brock’s baseball program, which has won two national (1999, 2000) and four provincial (2003, 2005, 2011, 2015) championships, is looking to forward to the game.
“This is the game to come to for fans looking for great live baseball as the summer season winds down and we gear up for regular season play,” head coach Marc LePage said.
“We want to showcase our team to the community and thank them for being such a large part of our program’s success over the years.”
LePage said pitching is one of Brock’s “biggest strengths” this season and he promises some of the Badgers top hurlers will take the mound against Team Ontario.
“Our guys are going to be really strong,” he said. “We’re a local team with a strong core of local players.”
Brian Hutchings, the university’s vice-president of administration, said bringing Brock sporting events to the community is a big focus of the 2018-19 athletic season.
“We love connecting with the community and enjoy showcasing our talented studentathletes,” Hutchings said. “This is a chance for the community and baseball fans to come out, cheer on our Badgers and have some fun.
“Brock is a traditional powerhouse in baseball and this promises to be a really good game.”
On the weekend the Badgers opened the regular season with back-to-back doubleheaders in Waterloo and head into Saturday’s home opener against the McMaster Marauders, also a twin bill, with a 2-2 record and seeking their third win in a row.
After falling 3-2 and 6-2 to the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday, Brock rebounded by taking both ends of the doubleheader from the Waterloo Warriors the following afternoon posting 1-0 and 15-3 victories.
The sweep of the Warriors was especially sweet for the Badgers who, as top seeds at the Ontario University Athletics championships last season, were upset by the ninth-seeded Warriors in the quarter-finals and knocked out of contention for a medal.
The weekend before in Williamsville, N.Y., a Buffalo suburb, the Badgers’ pitching staff was dominant in victories over Erie Community College, 11-1; and Durham College, 6-3; to wrap up the pre-season with a 4-0 record.
Saturday’s games against McMaster, 3-1, are scheduled to begin at noon and 3:30 p.m.