All-stars set to sparkle on diamond
Welland Stadium hosts senior baseball showcase Saturday
It will be some of baseball’s best from Niagara Region and the Niagara Frontier taking turns at bat Saturday in Welland.
An all-star game set for 5 p.m. at Welland Stadium will pit top players from the Niagara District Baseball Association (NABA) senior division against standouts from Erie-Buffalo Municipal League in western New York.
Admission is free, and the game will go nine innings instead of the seven that teams in the regional league usually play.
Eight teams play in the NABA loop and each of them will have at least one representative in the home team’s lineup for the annual battle for cross-border bragging rights.
The Fort Erie Cannons, currently first in the standings with a 10-3-1 record, have the most all-stars on this year’s team, with four: Serge Gervais, Steve Oleniuk, Zac Porter, Nick Weglarz.
Defending playoff champion Fort Erie will also make up half of the coaching staff with Justin Hall and Gary Morales joining forces with Tom Manuel and Larry Stephens, both of the Welland Chiefs.
The Merritton Alliance, who lost last year’s championship final to the Cannons two games to one, will be represented by Matt Brady, Mark Fusco and Matt
Kerr in the senior showcase in Welland.
The Chiefs and their fellow co-hosts, the Rose City Thorns, are also sending three players each to Saturday’s game. Scott Cole, Zack Fernandez and Mark Jaroslawski will be representing the Chiefs, while Jake Brannan, Travis Doyle and Tyler Rose are the Thorns selected to the all-star team.
NABA senior teams with two all-stars each are the Niagara Falls Expos, Ryan Langdon, Shawn Summerville; Niagara Falls Junior Falcons, Chris Caughell, Nate Caughell; and Thorold Fantoms, Dan Boekestyn, Daniel Krasulja.
Matthew Jackson is the lone representative from the St. Catharines Cobras.
The NABA is going into the all-star game with a score to settle after having lost last year’s game by one run. The 2016 showcase ended in a tie.
The second half of the 24-game regular season in the NABA senior division is now underway, and only one point separates the top three teams.
The Expos and Chiefs, both 10-5, were half a game behind the Cannons heading into Wednesday night action in the designated-hitter, extra-hitter league.
Fourth-place St. Catharines, 7-8, is four games off the pace and seven points back of Fort Erie.
Right behind the Cobras and with a game in hand are the Thorns, 6-8. Merritton, 6-10, also has 12 points, like Rose City, but the Alliance are a full game back of the Thorns and 5 ½ behind league-leading Fort Erie.
The Junior Falcons, 5-9-1, and Fantoms, 4-10, occupy seventh and eighth place, respectively.
Two games are on Friday’s schedule. Welland visits the Expos for a 7 p.m. first pitch at Oakes Park in Niagara Falls, with the Junior Falcons visiting the Cobras at George Taylor Field starting at 7:30 p.m.