The ballpark beckons.
The Nanaimo Pirates, the city's B.C. Premier Baseball League club, got out on the grass at Serauxmen Stadium for the first time this year on a sunny Sunday.
The Pirates will hold joint tryouts for the premier and junior squads this coming weekend (Feb. 21-22) at the stadium.
More than 20 guys came out for the first outdoor workout after training inside at Beban Park's Centennial Building in recent weeks.
"It's mostly just getting them out there and having some fun," said Doug Rogers, Pirates manager. "They're going to have a lot of rust on them and it's just a chance for them to kind of shake the rust off, clean off the spikes."
Baseball is a game of repetition, the manager said, so the more practices the team can get in at this stage of the year will benefit them come springtime.
This week's tryouts should be interesting. Player numbers are about average, but there is a lot of talent in the mix.
"We have some players this year," Rogers said. "I'm looking forward to the season. Whether we're at the very top of he league or in the middle of the pack, who knows, but I'm pretty excited about what I see so far."
Players in Grade 10-12 can try out for the Pirates, and Rogers said Grade 9 players can also come out just for the tryout experience. Tryouts will be 1-4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday at the stadium; depending on the weather, Saturday's tryout may be moved to the Centennial Building. For more information, please visit www.ballcharts.com/pirates.
Covered baseball practice on a beautiful #VancouverIsland afternoon. Tough job but somebody's got to do it… pic.twitter.com/vs2Ftw8p2s
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) February 15, 2015