There are young players, veteran players and just a handful who fall in between those categories on the roster of the St. John’s Capitals, representing Newfoundland and Labrador at the Canadian senior men’s baseball championship this week in Miramichi, N.B.
The event officially begins with a home run contest this evening, but game action doesn’t start until Thursday, when the Capitals, who are almost perennial provincial representatives, play twice, taking on a team from Cape Breton, one of two Nova Scotia entries, and Alberta.
The 20-player roster for St. John’s includes nine competitors who are aged 23 or under, with 18-year-old pitcher/shortstop Graham King the youngest. At the other end of the roster spectrum there are five players who are 36 or older, including 46-year-old first baseman and longtime Caps stalwart Troy Croft, who is eight years older than pitcher Sean Janes, the next oldest player on the team.
Only six players are aged between 24 and 35.
Nine players, or slightly under half the overall lineup, were members of the Capitals team that went 1-3 at the 2018 national senior men’s championship in Victoria, B.C.
St. John’s will play two more preliminary-round games this week, taking on British Columbia Friday and the host Chatham Ironmen on Saturday.
The top six finishers in the 10-team tournament will advance to the playoff round, beginning Saturday evening and concluding with the championship final on Sunday.
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Caps roster
The roster for the St. John’s Capitals, representing Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2019 Baseball Canada national senior baseball championship in Miramichi, N.B. (with primary/secondary positions in brackets; * — played on 2018 nationals):
Pitchers
*Dan Connors, Graham King (SS), Alex Walsh (OF), Aaron Peach, Scott Goosney, *Sean Janes, Zack Fitzpatrick, *Greg Barry (1B)
Outfielders
*Daniel Rice, Grant Vincent, *Dave Penney, Eric McKay
Infielders
Parker Gulliver (2B/SS), Peter Madden (SS), *Brent Power (2B/OF), *Troy Croft (1B), *Dylan Mackenzie (3B/SS)
Catchers
Redmond Hunt (3B), Scott Stockley, *John Cribb
Coaching staff
Head coach: Sean Gulliver; Assistant coach: Peter Cornick; Chef de mission: Andrew Simmons
