A local baseball team is leaving the Chatham Minor Baseball Association in order to continue playing together next season.
The former U15 Chatham Diamonds will now be known as the Chatham-Kent Cubs next Spring when they take the field in the Fergie Jenkins Showcase League as a 16-and-under (16U) team.
Head Coach Paul Brown's request to keep his 15U team intact at the 16U level was denied by local and regional baseball leagues back in August.
In an open letter on the CMBA website, the league said its decision not to offer a 16U team was based on history and the significant implications it would create for the league to operate any sort of rep team at the 18U level next year and in the future.
When officials declined to make an exception for a 16U team next season, players, parents, and coaches began looking for a way to keep the team together.
Some have been teammates for six years, according to Brown.
The team was offered a spot through the Blenheim Minor Baseball Association to play as a 16U team next season. However, in order to keep the whole team together, each Diamonds player would have needed a release from the CMBA, which denied the blanket request.
Free tryouts for the Cubs will start on Tuesday, September 13 at Fergie Jenkins Field at Rotary Park from 8:15-10 p.m.
They’ll continue Friday, September 16 at Blenheim’s Centennial Park from 7-9 p.m., Sunday, September 18, at Rotary Park from 6:15-8 p.m., and Tuesday, September 20, at Rotary Park from 8:15-10 p.m.
For more information contact [email protected]
More to come
