The boys of summer are back in town and they’re about ready to get the season going.
The Nanaimo Hub City Paving Pirates had three pre-season games scheduled this past weekend at Serauxmen Stadium after returning last week from a 12-day spring training excursion to Tucson, Ariz.
Pirates manager Doug Rogers said in a press release that he was “extremely happy” with the way his high school-aged players handled themselves against U.S. junior college opponents.
“Once they got over the intimidation factor and understood that these teams still had to make three outs and do all the same things that we have to do to earn wins, then we competed well,” Rogers said.
The Pirates faced schools like New Mexico State, Central Arizona, Gateway, Eastern Arizona, Odessa and Midland College, teams that Rogers said his players might like to play for upon graduation.
“Players saw the difference in work ethic from teams down south and hopefully bring back that attitude when here,” the manager said. “It was definitely time well spent.”
BASE LINES … Scores from the weekend’s pre-season games were not available at press time … The premier Pirates will head to the Lower Mainland this Sunday (April 3) for a pre-season jamboree hosted by the Coquitlam Reds …The B.C. Premier Baseball League schedule gets underway April 9 and the Pirates’ home opener is slated for April 24 against the Victoria Eagles.