Baseball has a long tradition in Barrhead and the North Central Alberta Baseball League (NCABL), whether hardball or softball, and the Orioles’ star might well be on the rise once more.
Barrhead’s Orioles Park hosted its first ever league All-Star game on Sunday, July 17, and the host team featured players from teams in Edmonton, Stony Plain, as well as our own homegrown athletes — Corn Friesen, Taylor Heck, Brent Wierenga, and Craig Connelly.
In addition, the first pitch was thrown by a former club member, John Osbourne, who was honoured by the Orioles with the club’s retirement of Osbourne’s number and a plaque that now hangs in the out-field as well.
Osbourne harkens back to the halcyon days of old, when the Jays were a force to be reckoned with in the NCABL.
In spite of the gloomy weather of preceeding weeks, the forecast remained pleasant throughout the seven-inning game.
The honour and privilege of hosting such an event speaks volumes for the rising popularity of the Barrhead Orioles — the club is currently ranked 4th in the North Central Alberta Baseball League with the Lions, the Mets and the Blackhawks ahead of them.
For our community, this is great news, especially for a club that has had its name changed — The AA Senior men’s amateur team were originally called the Barrhead Blue Jays, won NCABL championships in 1983 and 2003, and they played their last game in the North Central Alberta Baseball League in 2007.
After a 10-year hiatus however, the team has now been back in the league for the last three years and have been working hard to make the Orioles a household name.
More importantly however, Barrhead will be hosting the 50th anniversary All-Star game in 2017.
The editorial staff of the Barrhead Leader would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the players who were a part of this year’s home team, Leon’s Carpet &Paint All Stars, as well as those players of distinction who made up the visiting Beverly Optimist All-Stars, the managers of both teams — Randy Gregg of the Edmonton Blackhawks (Leon’s Carpet &Paint) and Adam Sawatzky of the Westlock Red Lions (Beverly Optimists), and of course all of the league’s fans who turned out for the event.
This year’s game was great, but let’s make next year even bigger.
