Church Field in Morell will be hosting the Atlantic midget AA baseball championship from Aug. 29 to 31.
“We hosted the midget provincials last year, and by all accounts did great, so we figured we would apply for the Atlantics,” said tournament co-chair Maxine Doucette. “We were thrilled to get them, and now are excited to showcase our hard work organizing and running an Atlantic championship.”
The Northside Lions are the host, and will joined by the P.E.I. champions Kensington Crusaders, New Brunswick’s River Valley Cougars, Newfoundland and Labardor’s St. John’s Capitals and Nova Scotia champs, the Windsor Knights.
While finishing 8-8 in the P.E.I. midget league regular season and 2-2 at the provincials, Northside head coach Randy Byrne doesn’t expect his team to be pushovers.
“We’ve got a lot of strong players and good pitching. If we can limit the errors and unearned runs (against), we’ve got a chance to beat every team,” he said. “These teams will be excellent, so we have to play at our best each game. But if we do, we’ve certainly got a shot.”
Games start at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, and opening ceremonies will be at approximately 7:30 p.m. Honourary tournament chairman, former principal and standout ballplayer Walter Bradley will throw out the first pitch. Games will continue in Morell all day Saturday and Sunday.
It’s been 10 years since Morell hosted an Atlantic championship, and organizers are excited.
Community of Morell maintenance worker “Ronnie Drake does such a great job on the field. We are excited to showcase the field and such a high level of midget baseball. We hope that lots of ball fans from Kings County and all of Prince Edward Island get out and cheer the local teams,” Doucette said.
“It’s going to be a great weekend to highlight the quality of midget baseball on P.E.I. and across Atlantic Canada.”
The Baseball Atlantic midget AA championships schedule. Games to be played at Church Field in Morell.
Friday
2:30 p.m. – Northside (Host) vs. Kensington (P.E.I.).
5 p.m. – Windsor (N.S.) vs. River Valley (N.B.).
7:30 p.m. – Opening ceremonies.
8 p.m. – St. John’s (N.L.) vs. Northside (Host).
Saturday
9 a.m. – Kensington vs. Windsor
11:30 a.m. – River Valley vs. St. John’s.
2 p.m. – Northside vs. Windsor.
4:30 p.m. – Kensington vs. River Valley.
7 p.m. – St. John’s vs. Windsor.
Sunday
9 a.m. – Northside vs. River Valley.
11:30 a.m. – Kensington vs. St. John’s.
2 p.m. – Tie-breaker or championship game (if necessary).
4:30 p.m. – Championship game (if necessary).
