League making a pitch for Welland Stadium
The Intercounty Baseball League has moved into the on-deck circle and is waiting for its first turn at bat in Niagara.
Burlington Herd co-owner Ryan Harrison confirmed a team will begin playing out of Welland Stadium next spring if the league and municipality can agree to a lease.
Harrison, who toured the stadium on a fact-finding mission on behalf of the Herd and the eightteam league, would not say whether his team intends to relocate or that Niagara will be awarded an expansion franchise.
“I would rather not say at this point in time,” he said. “But I will say that a team is coming to Welland as long as our lease is accepted.”
Negotiations for a three-year deal to lease the 2,500-seat ballpark have been completed. A proposed lease will go to Welland city hall for a vote some time in August after it is reviewed by municipal staff, Harrison said.
The Intercounty Baseball League dates back to 1919, but a Welland-based team would mark its first venture into Niagara.
That said, the league has no plans to promote the team regionally by playing games in Niagara Falls and St. Catharines. George Taylor Field, formerly Community Park and one-time home of the St. Catharines Blue Jays and St. Catharines Stompers, has a seating capacity of 2,000 for baseball, and 1,500-seat Oakes Park is currently home to Niagara Falls Expos and Niagara Falls Junior Falcons senior teams.
“The team will play only at Welland Stadium, as we do not want to move from stadium to
stadium in our 18-20 game home season,” Harrison said.
Welland Stadium has been without baseball since the Niagara Stars left in 2003. Both the Rose City Thorns and Welland Chiefs senior teams in the Niagara District Baseball Association play the home half of their 24-game schedules there at the stadium, but neither charges admission.
The last fan-based team that depended on sponsorships and ticket sales was the Niagara Stars.
Pittsburgh's New York-Penn League affiliate played six seasons in Welland, 1989 to 1994, before relocating to northwestern Pennsylvania and becoming the Erie SeaWolves.
Welland Stadium's next pro tenant, the Welland Aqua-Ducks of the North Atlantic League, lasted two seasons, 1995-96, before they folded along with the entire league.
After touring the stadium with Welland native and fellow Ontario Hockey League referee Brent Coulombe, Harrison was unable to explain why the ballpark hasn’t had a ticket-based team since the Stars folded along with the rest of the Canadian Baseball League’s inaugural season in 2003.
If Welland becomes a part of the Intercounty circuit, it would immediately boast a ballpark with the third-largest seating capacity.
Current Intercounty teams and the seating capacity of their ballparks: Barrie Baycats, 1,500; Brantford Red Sox, 2,000; Burlington Herd, 1,000; Guelph Royals, 1,400; Hamilton Cardinals, 3,000; Kitchener Panthers, 1,400; London Majors, 5,200; Toronto Maple Leafs, 3,000.