“Play Ball!” will echo throughout venerable St. Pat’s Ball Park today as the St. John’s Amateur Baseball Association kicks off another season.
The 74th senior baseball campaign opens with two games scheduled at St. Pat’s. The league started in 1947.
Today at 12:30 p.m., four-time defending champion Shamrocks take on Feildians in a rematch of last year’s championship series.
The Shammies swept Feildians last fall in the league final, outscoring the Double Blues 50-16 in the series. This was after Shamrocks had swept the Gonzaga Vikings in a best-of-five semifinal series.
Gonzaga plays Holy Cross 3:30 p.m. today at St. Pat’s. Knights and Storm meet at 1 p.m. today at Smallwood Drive Ball Park in Mount Pearl.
The intermediate circuit also opens this weekend.
Sunday at 1 p.m., Knights play host to Feildians at Smallwood Drive. Two games are set for St. Pat’s Sunday: Storm and Generals tangle at 12:30 p.m., followed by Holy Cross and Shamrocks at 3:30 p.m.
There will be a moment of silence before each game this weekend in memory of Tyler Pittman, who passed away this year. Pittman was a long-time baseball association scorekeeper and well-known baseball volunteer. Members of the Pittman family will be at St. Pat’s for the 3:30 p.m. intermediate game Sunday to throw out the opening pitch.
Long-time umpire Carl Lake will be throwing out the first pitch for the 12:30 p.m. game today to open the 2020 senior season.