Despite an early exit from the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) playoffs, the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers still consider their first-ever season to have been a success.
Barnstormers owner Dom Dinelle told CK Mornings with Chris, Allanah & Matt on 94.3 CKSY that seeing the team go through its first season was a crazy, interesting ride.
"So happy about how it turned out. So proud of these guys," said Dinelle. "[With] the effort they put in, the dedication... It was awesome."
Dinelle said that before the team formed for the season many of the players didn't even know the league, let alone each other, so it was a great accomplishment for the team to finish the regular season in fifth place in the standings.
"We just missed a few games here and there, and that would have made a big difference," he said of the team's record. "Maybe we would have come in third."
Dinelle said he has received messages from the league's commissioner, fans, and sponsors who were also excited and pleased about how the Barnstormer's first season turned out.
"The fans are passionate, they love baseball. They were noisy... It was so cool," he shared. "I knew that the baseball people would come, but my goal was to bring families together... and we achieved that. People were coming just for the fun of it."
He said the team saw upwards of 20,000 people in total come to home games throughout the season, finishing third in the league for attendance.
While he hasn't had much time yet to reflect on the details of how the season went, one of Dinelle's goals for next season is already clear -- he wants more seating at Fergie Jenkins Field.
"I've been repeating it over and over, we do need [some seats] because it's not enough," he admitted.
There will be other things on the list to improve for next season, including building a team clubhouse and having fun pre-game events, but for now, Dinelle said he still needs to digest what happened this season.
"It's only the beginning," he stated. "What you saw [in year one] is just the foundation. It will be way better next year."
