Mitch Calvert
The boys of summer are back.
The Fort Frances Little League Baseball Association’s Major ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams are gearing up for league play based in International Falls—with action set to get underway sometime next week.
“They normally start around May 1, but baseball in the rain and cold isn’t very good, so they pushed it back,” said association president Dave Sande.
“It’s tough on the pitchers,” he noted. “You seize up a little bit and throwing overhand makes the chance of injury more risky.
‘It’s tough on the batters, too, with gripping a cold bat.”
Games take place at Rizzo Field and Holler Field over in the Falls against teams from that side of the river.
Most of the Major ‘A’ roster includes graduating players from the Major ‘B’ team that won the league championship last season.
“Pretty much all of them are moving up to Major ‘A’,” said Fred Jack, who coaches the team alongside Tom Pitkanen.
“Just one player from the Major ‘A’ last year is back,” he noted.
Hopes of carrying that championship momentum to a higher level will be a tough task—which Jack knows well having coached the winning Major ‘B’ team a season ago.
“Especially when you are moving up another level, the competition is a lot better,” he remarked. “You are playing against 12-year-olds and most of our players are 11.”
The local Major ‘A’ team has been out practising in preparation for the condensed Little League season, which usually wraps up by the end of June.
“I think they wanted to make sure they waited a little later this year, because last year they started too soon and it was still cold,” Jack noted.
“We’ve just had a couple practices, and we’ll have a few more practices and then get started here next week hopefully.”
Brent Tookenay, meanwhile, is coaching the local Major ‘B’ squad along with Jim Fowler and Sean Taggart, and said he hopes to get out practicing later this week.
“We haven’t been out yet because the weather hasn’t been great, and we don’t know when the starting date is, either,” Tookenay said. “I’m assuming next week sometime, but if it goes a week later into June, that’s OK.”
“Players and families will be contacted ASAP once we have all the details,” Tookenay added.
The Major ‘A’ roster includes players born between May 1, 1996 and April 30, 1998 while the Major ‘B’ group will encompass those born between May 1, 1998 and April 30, 2000.
