By Tina Comeau
THE VANGUARD
www.thevanguard.ca
There will be lots of mosquitoes swarming Yarmouth this weekend but this is a good thing.
The mosquito AA provincial champions from the four Atlantic provinces will be in town as the Yarmouth Gateways mosquito AA team hosts Atlantics Sept. 13-15.
“The team is really excited about hosting Atlantics,” says Yarmouth coach Paul MacDonald, who is aided in the dugout and on the field by assistant coaches Mark Nickerson and Fred Charles. “You’re going to have teams from Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and from New Glasgow, as they won Nova Scotia provincials.”
Most of the games will be played on the Mariners Field on Forest Street, with a couple to be played at the St. Ambrose field on South East Street.
The mosquito AA level of ball involves players who are 10 and 11 years old.
Although the Mosquito AA Yarmouth Pizza Delight Gateways team is not a provincial championship team coming into the tournament, the Gateways have certainly been in the mix in their league all summer and MacDonald expects the team to continue to be a strong competitor, like all teams, this weekend.
“It’s been a really good team. We’ve been really competitive all year,” he says.
League stats for the mosquito AA Yarmouth team on the Baseball Nova Scotia website show a season record of 16 wins, three losses and one tie, which had the team in second position in the league.
“We probably were right at the top of the AA level. I feel if we weren’t hosting Atlantics we may have been bumped up to AAA,” MacDonald says. “As far as the calibre of players, they’re all developing and as the year went they all improved and got better. They came together as a group and that’s what makes it work.”
Yarmouth was one of the teams competing at mosquito AA provincials over the Labour Day weekend in New Glasgow, but the Gateways fell short of making it to the championship game after losing to Stellarton in the semifinal.
“We could have easily won it if a couple of things had gone our way,” MacDonald says. “At the end of the game that we lost in the semis, we had the bases loaded with two out and lost 5-4, so we were right there.”
MacDonald notes the Gateways had beaten the host New Glasgow team, which went on to win provincials, the four times they had met them during the league season.
Preparing for Atlantics is not only a team effort on the field, but off the field as well, as parents and players have been busy gathering sponsors and donations for the weekend, and have also been organizing a weekend to showcase the hospitality that Yarmouth is known for.
“We’re making sure everything is ready for when the teams come,” MacDonald says. “As everybody in Yarmouth knows, when we do events we like to make it memorable. We’re doing opening ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. on Friday evening and a skills competition afterwards and then a reception for all of the teams.”
MacDonald hopes people will come out to the ball field this weekend to show their support for all the teams, including the host squad, which MacDonald expects to have a good showing.
“Come out this weekend and watch some good ball,” he says. “I’m pretty confident that we have a very good shot at winning Atlantics.”
Atlantics schedule
The following is the schedule for this weekend’s mosquito AA Atlantics, which are being held in Yarmouth.
The Mosquito AA Yarmouth Pizza Delight Gateways are hosting Atlantics. The other four teams are the provincial champions from each of the four Atlantic Provinces.
These teams are New Glasgow from Nova Scotia, Windsor-Grand Falls from Newfoundland, West Prince 2 from Prince Edward Island and Western Valley from New Brunswick.
Unless noted otherwise, the games are being played at the Mariners Field on Forest Street.
Friday, Sept. 13:
•9 a.m Host Yarmouth vs. N.S.
• 11:30 a.m. N.B. vs. P.E.I.
• 4 p.m. N.L. vs. Host Yarmouth
• 4 p.m. N.S. vs. N.B. (St Ambrose Field)
• 6:30 p.m. Opening ceremonies/skills competition/reception
Saturday, Sept. 14
• 8 a.m. N.B. vs. N.L.
• 10:30 a.m. P.E.I. vs. N.S.
• 4 p.m. Host Yarmouth vs. N.B.
• 6:30 p.m. N.L. vs. P.E.I.
Sunday, Sept. 15
• 10:30 a.m. N.S. vs. N.L. (St. Ambrose Field)
• 10:30 a.m. P.E.I. vs. Host Yarmouth
• 3:30 p.m. Tie Breaker (if necessary) or championship game
• 6 p.m. Championship game (if necessary)
By Tina Comeau
THE VANGUARD
www.thevanguard.ca
There will be lots of mosquitoes swarming Yarmouth this weekend but this is a good thing.
The mosquito AA provincial champions from the four Atlantic provinces will be in town as the Yarmouth Gateways mosquito AA team hosts Atlantics Sept. 13-15.
“The team is really excited about hosting Atlantics,” says Yarmouth coach Paul MacDonald, who is aided in the dugout and on the field by assistant coaches Mark Nickerson and Fred Charles. “You’re going to have teams from Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and from New Glasgow, as they won Nova Scotia provincials.”
Most of the games will be played on the Mariners Field on Forest Street, with a couple to be played at the St. Ambrose field on South East Street.
The mosquito AA level of ball involves players who are 10 and 11 years old.
Although the Mosquito AA Yarmouth Pizza Delight Gateways team is not a provincial championship team coming into the tournament, the Gateways have certainly been in the mix in their league all summer and MacDonald expects the team to continue to be a strong competitor, like all teams, this weekend.
“It’s been a really good team. We’ve been really competitive all year,” he says.
League stats for the mosquito AA Yarmouth team on the Baseball Nova Scotia website show a season record of 16 wins, three losses and one tie, which had the team in second position in the league.
“We probably were right at the top of the AA level. I feel if we weren’t hosting Atlantics we may have been bumped up to AAA,” MacDonald says. “As far as the calibre of players, they’re all developing and as the year went they all improved and got better. They came together as a group and that’s what makes it work.”
Yarmouth was one of the teams competing at mosquito AA provincials over the Labour Day weekend in New Glasgow, but the Gateways fell short of making it to the championship game after losing to Stellarton in the semifinal.
“We could have easily won it if a couple of things had gone our way,” MacDonald says. “At the end of the game that we lost in the semis, we had the bases loaded with two out and lost 5-4, so we were right there.”
MacDonald notes the Gateways had beaten the host New Glasgow team, which went on to win provincials, the four times they had met them during the league season.
Preparing for Atlantics is not only a team effort on the field, but off the field as well, as parents and players have been busy gathering sponsors and donations for the weekend, and have also been organizing a weekend to showcase the hospitality that Yarmouth is known for.
“We’re making sure everything is ready for when the teams come,” MacDonald says. “As everybody in Yarmouth knows, when we do events we like to make it memorable. We’re doing opening ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. on Friday evening and a skills competition afterwards and then a reception for all of the teams.”
MacDonald hopes people will come out to the ball field this weekend to show their support for all the teams, including the host squad, which MacDonald expects to have a good showing.
“Come out this weekend and watch some good ball,” he says. “I’m pretty confident that we have a very good shot at winning Atlantics.”
Atlantics schedule
The following is the schedule for this weekend’s mosquito AA Atlantics, which are being held in Yarmouth.
The Mosquito AA Yarmouth Pizza Delight Gateways are hosting Atlantics. The other four teams are the provincial champions from each of the four Atlantic Provinces.
These teams are New Glasgow from Nova Scotia, Windsor-Grand Falls from Newfoundland, West Prince 2 from Prince Edward Island and Western Valley from New Brunswick.
Unless noted otherwise, the games are being played at the Mariners Field on Forest Street.
Friday, Sept. 13:
•9 a.m Host Yarmouth vs. N.S.
• 11:30 a.m. N.B. vs. P.E.I.
• 4 p.m. N.L. vs. Host Yarmouth
• 4 p.m. N.S. vs. N.B. (St Ambrose Field)
• 6:30 p.m. Opening ceremonies/skills competition/reception
Saturday, Sept. 14
• 8 a.m. N.B. vs. N.L.
• 10:30 a.m. P.E.I. vs. N.S.
• 4 p.m. Host Yarmouth vs. N.B.
• 6:30 p.m. N.L. vs. P.E.I.
Sunday, Sept. 15
• 10:30 a.m. N.S. vs. N.L. (St. Ambrose Field)
• 10:30 a.m. P.E.I. vs. Host Yarmouth
• 3:30 p.m. Tie Breaker (if necessary) or championship game
• 6 p.m. Championship game (if necessary)
