The Nanaimo Pirates will raise their level of baseball this weekend.
The Hub City Paving Pirates host the Victoria HarbourCats in a special-event game Sunday (July 19) at Serauxmen Stadium.
The Pirates have been looking forward to the game for months, and now that they’ve all but locked up home-field advantage in the playoffs, they can turn their attentions to exhibition play.
“The pressure’s been relieved in the standings…” said Doug Rogers, Pirates manager. “Now it’s a matter of going out there and making this event special for the players [and] for the people watching and I think that’s going to happen.”
To compete with the hottest team in the West Coast League, Nanaimo will bolster its lineup with Pirates alumni, including Kenton Schroter, Justin Clarkson, Brady Rogers, Ben Dunbar and others.
The HarbourCats roster is full of Div. 1-calibre players and play at a level that many Pirates players aspire to, Doug Rogers said.
There will be a beer garden and other diversions and Harvey the HarbourCat will be on hand. Fans are welcome to show up early to watch batting practice.
GAME ON … The Pirates host the HarbourCats Sunday at 1 p.m. at Serauxmen Stadium. Admission to the nine-inning game is $10. Nanaimo also has a doubleheader Friday (July 17) against the Coquitlam Reds. Games are at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The B.C. Premier Baseball League season ends Monday with road games against the Abbotsford Cardinals.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
