Teams seek provincial baseball titles.
SYDNEY — As the minor baseball season winds down, five Cape Breton baseball teams will hit the field this weekend for the most important tournaments of the year.
The clubs — Cape Breton Expos, Strait Area Sting, Cape Breton Royals, New Waterford Dodgers and Richmond Cougars — will travel to mainland Nova Scotia to play in their respective Baseball Nova Scotia provincial championships.
This will mark the first time since 2019 that teams at the under-11, under-14 and under-18 levels have had provincial tournaments. The 2020 provincial events were cancelled due to the COVID19 pandemic.
All tournaments will run today to Sunday with the championship games slated for Sunday afternoon.
CAPE BRETON, STRAIT AREA
The Cape Breton Expos and Strait Area Sting will be in Great Village, Colchester County for the under-18 ‘A' Tier 1 provincial championship.
Both the Expos and Sting participated in the nine-team Bluenose League this summer, which saw the Expos win the regular season title with a 12-2-0 record.
Expos head coach Paul MacDonald said his players have proven what commitment and dedication can do for a team.
“It's great to have finished in first place during the regular season, but when the provincial tournament starts all five teams start without a loss and it's a whole new season,” he said.
“We have to put the regular season behind us and try to start another five-game winning streak and if we can do that we will be the provincial champs in the end.”
Along with the Expos and Sting, the host Great Village Tide, Antigonish Angels and Pictou County Rangers will also compete for the title.
“Any of those teams are capable of winning the championship,” said MacDonald. “If I had to pick a team that would be our toughest competition, I'd say it will be Great Village.”
MacDonald said the top of the order has provided a large portion of the team's offence this season and he expects that to continue.
“One through five is pretty tough,” said MacDonald. “Leadoff hitter Max Billard and number two hitter Gahan Rector set the table for guys like Lyndon Quirk, Bryden Gardiner and Colby Skinner, so we have a good balanced attack.”
Cape Breton will open the tournament today at 5:30 p.m. against Great Village. The team will play Antigonish and Pictou County on Saturday. The Expos and Sting will meet Sunday.
Quirk is expected to get the ball for the Expos in Game 1.
As for the Sting, they finished sixth in the Bluenose League with a 4-8-1 record.
the Strait begins tournament today at 3 p.m. against Antigonish. They will play Pictou County and Great Village Saturday, before meeting Cape Breton on Sunday.
The Post contacted Sting head coach Shane Richards for comment on the tournament, but he couldn't be reached before press time.
The championship games, if necessary, will be played at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday. If a team goes undefeated, they will win the tournament.
NEW WATERFORD DODGERS
Meanwhile, the New Waterford Dodgers all-female team will be in Grand Lake and Waverly for the girls under14 provincial championship.
The Dodgers played in the first-ever all-female Bluenose League this season and finished last in the five-team league with an 0-6-0 record, but head coach Chris Hillier said the focus wasn't always about winning.
“We played all the girls equally and fairly throughout the regular season with the focus on development over winning,” said Hillier. “Three of the games we played could have gone either way and the girls won an exhibition game against another Bluenose League team.”
The Dodgers team is made up of female players from across Cape Breton, not only the New Waterford community.
“We really came together as a unified team with great team spirit this year and I believe the girls will have a very strong showing at the provincials as they have improved greatly as the season progressed,” said Hillier.
Hillier considers his team to be well-rounded both offensively and defensively.
“They support each other and learn from each other,” said Hillier. “They will be a strong team this year and in the years to come.”
New Waterford will begin the tournament today against the host Tri County at 5 p.m. They will return to the field on Saturday against Oxford and Hammonds Plains and finish the round robin Sunday by taking on Antigonish.
As of press time, Hillier said the team was still finalizing its pitching scheduled for the weekend. The starter for Game 1 wasn't announced.
The championship games, if needed, will be held Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. If a team goes undefeated in the tournament, they will be crowned the winner without a final game.
RICHMOND COUGARS
As the Richmond County representatives, the Cougars will hit the road for Prospect in search of an under-11 ‘A' Tier 3 provincial championship.
The Cougars played eight games this season in the 14team Bluenose League.
The team finished 12th with a 2-5-1 record, but head coach Stewart Kelly doesn't
expect the shortened season to have any impact on his club at the provincials.
“I think our group played enough, and with our games and practices, I think we should be OK at provincials,” said Kelly. “Ideally, we would have liked to play more games, but unfortunately the schedule didn’t allow for it.”
Richmond hasn’t played any of the teams at the tournament. Along with the Cougars, the host Prospect, Cole Harbour and Hammonds Plains will also be in the event.
“We have prepared our group as well as we could for the weekend without knowing much about the other teams,” said Kelly. “For all our players, it will be their first time playing in the provincials and the experience alone is worth it.”
Kelly, who considers his team to have a well-balanced attack, will open the tournament today at 5:30 p.m. against Cole Harbour. The team will play back-to-back games Saturday against Hammonds Plains and Prospect respectively.
The championship games, if necessary, are Sunday at 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. If a team has a 3-0 record they will automatically win the provincials and no championship game will be played.