Midget AA baseballers vie for Atlantic title
Published Thursday September 3rd, 2009
Baseball Royalty | Atlantic AA in Dalhousie while Woodstock hosts provincial midget AAA tourney
Bob Eckstein doesn't know what his Fredericton Royals are up against, but he thinks they'll be up to the challenge of winning the Atlantic midget AA baseball championship.
"The boys are having a lot of fun right now," Eckstein said. "They've really gelled as a team. As long as we continue to play well defensively and get the strong pitching we've been getting, I think we've got a really good shot at this."
The Royals open the four-team event Friday at 4 p.m. against host Dalhousie. Saturday, Fredericton faces the Prince Edward Island representative at 1 p.m. and the Nova Scotia survivor at 7 p.m.
The top two teams advance to Sunday's championship game, or games, if a sudden-death final is necessary.
"You really have to give some thought to it," Eckstein said of playing unfamiliar opponents. "It's not like provincials or zones where you know the teams you're going to be playing against because you've played most of them all year.
"Here, it's kind of an unknown."
The Royals have faced only the two possible Nova Scotia reps, Antigonish and Cole Harbour, at the Cole Harbour tourney in July.
"We beat them both in close games," Eckstein said. "They were both really strong defensively and both can hit. They use aluminum bats in Nova Scotia, but they won't be able to here.
"They key is to win that first game against Dalhousie," he said. "It gives you a psychological edge and it sets you up well for Saturday."
Rainouts reduced the Royals' regular season record to 16 games and they had a so-so 9-7 record.
"But five or six losses were by one run," Eckstein said.
The Royals turned it up in zone and provincial playdowns by going 7-2 overall, including a win over favoured Perth in the sudden-death N.B. final.
"Perth had the best (regular-season) record and they were very, very strong," Eckstein said. "I was very pleased that it was the two of us in the final. They won the Atlantics last year, so we knew what we were up against. The boys played some good ball. I was very proud of them."
Eckstein and assistants Linden Fenety and Terry McGrath haven't settled on an opening-game starter, but have "solid options" in Nick Daigle, Kennebecasis Valley pickup Jordan Steane or Bob's son, Sean.
"Nick has been a pleasant surprise for us," the head coach said. "He's a bantam AA player who we picked up this year to play midget AA ball. He's really shining. He throws hard, he throws strikes and he's got a really good breaking pitch."
Steane is "a hard-throwing righthander with a good mix of pitches" while Sean Eckstein is "an effective lefty."
Tyler Vrolyk, Kevin McCarthy, Tyler McGrath and Pat Surette will also see some innings.
"We've got a lot of pitching depth," Eckstein said.
McGrath is the primary catcher. He's backed up by Brandon Nason, who's supported by Surette and Vrolyk at first.
Peter Dawson and MacKenzie MacPherson are at second, McCarthy at short and Jeff Murphy at third.
Speedster Josh Fenety, who "can run like a deer," Eckstein said, will patrol centre field, with Tysen Gee to his left and Vrolyk, Eckstein or Surette in right.
Fenety leads off, followed by Gee.
"Josh has a really good on-base percentage, a really good eye for the ball and rarely strikes out," Eckstein said. "Tysen is a contact hitter and a very good bunter."
McCarthy, a third-year veteran, bats third - Kevin's such a clutch hitter," Eckstein said - with Dawson or Nason in the cleanup spot. MacPherson or Vrolyk are dependable hitters, as well.
"We really started to get the bats going in zones and provincials," Eckstein said.
Midget AAA
After an extended break with numerous players involved in the Canada Cup, midget nationals or Canada Summer Games, the New Brunswick Midget AAA Baseball League will determine a provincial champion this weekend.
The four-team tournament runs Friday to Sunday at Woodstock's Shiretown Field.
Friday, the 15-2 Fredericton Office Interiors Royals meet the 0-15 Western Valley Reds at 6 p.m. The 12-5 Saint John Port City Pirates take on the 5-9 Chatham Ironmen at 8:30 p.m.
Saturday will see Fredericton face Chatham at 10 a.m., host Western Valley play Saint John at 12:30 and Chatham at 3 p.m., then the Royals meet the Pirates at 6 p.m.
The top two teams advance to Sunday's 10 a.m. final. If one team is 3-0, then there could be a second final as each team has to lose twice to be eliminated.
The sudden-death final, if necessary, would be at 2 p.m.
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