Only a fraction of elite ballplayers become Major League millionaires, but that doesn鈥檛 mean the rest stop playing. A love of the game brings them back to the diamond every summer, pitting their skills against each other in leagues such as Victoria Mavericks Baseball.
This weekend, the Mavericks are playing host to the Men鈥檚 Over-18 Provincial Championship at Lambrick Park. The Mavericks themselves will field a host team and all-star team, and other competitors include the Prince George Grays, Burnaby Bulldogs, Trail Orioles, Kamloops Sun Devils, Langley Blaze and Nanaimo Coalminers.
鈥淭hese are 30- and 40-year-old ex-college guys who鈥檝e been drafted,鈥� tournament co-ordinator Patrick Nahirney said about many of the all-star players. 鈥淭hey live in town, and they just want to keep playing baseball. There will be lots of home runs.鈥�
The games begin today, with the host Mavericks (Mavericks No. 2) taking on Langley at 3 p.m., followed at 6:30 p.m. by the Mavericks No. 1 all-stars versus Burnaby, and the Kamloops Sun Devils vs. Nanaimo. On Saturday and Sunday, games begin at 9:30 a.m., noon, and 6 and 6:30 p.m., with playoff games running Sunday evening. The championship final is at 9:30 a.m. on Monday.
The winner earns a berth in the national championship, which is next summer in Newfoundland.
The Mavericks are going after their ninth sa国际传媒 title, after last winning in 2011, and the majority of players are returnees, such as long-time stars Lanny Burrows at second base and Sean Murphy at shortstop. Both are also on the roster of Team sa国际传媒 at Baseball sa国际传媒 Senior Men鈥檚 Championship, Aug. 22-26, in Windsor, Ont. Victorians joining them in Windsor are first-baseman Steve Lowe, catcher John Margaritis and 50-year-old pitcher Trevor Strandlund. Once a team wins the provincial crown, as Langley did last season, they pick and choose players from around the league to form a league-wide all-star squad for the Canadian tournament.
The Mavericks made two quick trips to Prince George last year 鈥� once for the provincials, and then again for the nationals. Prince George won the 2012 Canadian championship but only had two players who were actually from PG; the rest were from Langley.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 leave a good taste,鈥� Nahirney said. 鈥淭hey went shopping for a team.鈥�
If the Mavericks come out on top this weekend, they might pick up a few players to make the trip to Newfoundland, but the majority of the team would be from Victoria, he said. The Mavericks league play is only partway through the season, but players topping the leaderboard in batting averages include Chris Hamblin, Burrows and Jarrod Birch at .450, .400 and .385, respectively. On the mound, Mathew Atkinson has an earned run average of .89, followed by Thomas Strocel at 1.46, and Charlie Strandlund at 1.69.
鈥淲e鈥檇 want to keep our local guys in there,鈥� Nahirney said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of talent.鈥�
For more information on Mavericks Baseball and the provincial tournament, look them up on the web at victoriamavericks.com.
