The Sarnia Brigade Senior AAA baseball team opens its 2023 season Tuesday night, as it faces the newly-formed U22 squad at Errol Russell Park.
The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and is free for spectators to enjoy.
The Senior Brigade are coming off a successful 2022 campaign.
They won the Southwestern Baseball League's regular season title before losing to the Windsor Stars in the final game of the Ontario championship.
Manager James Grant said the team should be strong once again this year, with its entire starting lineup returning to play.
"On the pitching side we have Mike Damchuk, Nick Baljeu and Wade Babula," said Grant. "Core Jackson is back, he's heading off to Utah this fall. Otherwise, we have everybody. Alex McLean, MacKenzie Maxwell, Kegan Brandon, Brad Hill and Julian Service you name it, everybody is back. It's a pretty good club, everybody has been out getting their reps and we're ready to go."
Grant said team chemistry will obviously be strong once again.
"There's not too much of a learning curve," he said. "Some guys that are in Sarnia are done their pro and college careers. But, we have guys in college in Canada and the U.S. still that come home. Just to be able to bring everybody together for another year, there isn't too much to learn. People just get back into their roles, starting Tuesday."
Grant said the U22 team is new to the league this season.
"We've got so many players graduating out of our U18 club now that we were able to finally get a junior team in there," he said. "They're going to be really good. It's a fun team to be a part of, just checking them out at practice."
The Senior Brigade captured the AAA Ontario Men's championship in 2019 for the third time in franchise history.
The Southwestern Baseball League also features the London Badgers, Strathroy Royals, and Ilderton Riverhawks.
More information, including the full schedule, can be found at www.swsbl.ca.
