TRURO, N.S. – The Truro Bearcats will seek a U18A Nova Scotia baseball championship this weekend on home turf.
The Bearcats will host the eight-team provincial tournament Aug. 23 to 25 at the TAAC Grounds and Stadium 1 diamond.
Truro has enjoyed a successful season with a 15-3 record in the Bluenose Baseball League. The Bearcats are a dangerous hitting team and have averaged more than 12 runs per game this season, and boast a deep pitching roster.
“Our big strength we think is our depth in pitching and obviously our lineup,” said Bearcats coach Scott MacGillivray. “It’s just like anything else – either we’re on or we’re not … some games we hit well and some games we don’t. But I think our depth of pitching going into a tournament like this where you could potentially play five games is something to our advantage. I think we’ve got seven or eight pitchers on our staff, so that’s something that’s going help us.”
Many players on the Bearcats' roster were members of last year’s Truro U18A team that finished second at the provincial championship in Eastern Passage, and are eager for another shot at gold.
“We think this year is our opportunity to contend,” said MacGillivray. “Anything can happen in an eight-team tournament; it’s a large tournament this year compared to last year where it was four teams.
“We’ve got a lot of experience. We’ve got a lot of players who have won provincial championships at the high school level and we’re going to rely on our older players to use their experience to do well over the course of the weekend.”
The tournament consists of two, four-team pools. The Bearcats will play preliminary round games at the TAAC Grounds against Pictou County, Prospect and Strait. Lake Echo, Cole Harbour, Cape Breton and Amherst will play in the other pool at the Stadium 1 diamond. All Sunday games will be played at the Stadium 1 diamond, including semifinals at 9 a.m. and noon, and the final at 3 p.m.
Bearcats schedule
(At the TAAC Grounds)
Friday
Truro vs. Pictou County, 3 p.m.
Saturday
Truro vs. Prospect, 9 a.m.
Truro vs. Strait, 2 p.m.
