Steve Hynes has a few buddies who play for Feildians in the St. John’s senior baseball league, but he’s going to put those friendships on the backburner for now.
Hynes, a member of the Veitch Wellness Aces in the Corner Brook senior baseball setup, is eager to settle the score with the Feildians this weekend when Corner Brook plays host to the 2018 Provincial Senior Club Baseball Championships.
The six-team tournament features two club teams from St. John’s — the other is the RMM Gonzaga Vikings —, but Feildians is the defending champion and 2014 club champions.
The Aces have lost in the final two out of the last three years in a tournament designed to give players who don’t compete at the all-star level in provincial A or B baseball to get a chance to play in a competitive tournament on a smaller provincial scale.
The four Corner Brook senior baseball teams will be joined by Feildians and Gonzaga in a two-division format that will see a champion crowned on Canada Day.
“The last thing we want is to see two of them in the final so we want to beat them bad,” Hynes said.
One guy who may want to spoil the party for Hynes is Corner Brook native Aaron Flood.
He is one member of Feildians who looks forward to the club championship tournament because it’s meaningful baseball that can serve as a measuring stick for the regular season for the respective club squads.
Flood likes the concept of a club championship because it gives every player a chance to play competitive baseball on a provincial scale because not everybody gets to play in the provincial senior A or B baseball tournaments.
“It’s a good opportunity for your team to gel as the season gets started,” Flood said.
Flood knows he has buddies who want to settle the score and take away the title so that’s half the reason he would never miss it.
He knows the fans at Jubilee Field can be testy when townies come to play so he expects there will be some razzing and taunting so he expects a fun weekend.
“There’s not welcome mat coming out for us,” Flood said with a hearty chuckle.
The tournament opens tonight with the West Side Monarchs tangling with the Veitch’s Ultramar Hawks 7:30 p.m. at Jubilee Field.
