STELLARTON – Pictou County youth will aim to prove they’re among the best in the province today as they vie for spots on two of Baseball Nova Scotia’s provincial teams.
Two provincial ID camps will be held at the William M. Sobey Indoor Sports Complex today in Stellarton.
The Bantam Selects ID camp is Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon and the Youth Selects ID Camp will be from noon to 2 p.m.
The Youth Selects camp is open to players 15 to 17 years of age with two over-age players allowed. Over-age are players who turn 18 within the calendar year.
The Bantam Selects camp is open to players 14 to 15 who do not turn 16 within the calendar year.
With the quality of players in the county, MacGregor Midgets AAA coach Bob Heighton, who is also the regional director for Baseball Nova Scotia, said he expects to see some of the locals crack the roster.
Players from Amherst and Truro have also signed up for the camp.
Heighton said he pushed to have the session here when he became regional director. Until then it was usually held in the Halifax area.
“I think people are realizing that there are good ball players outside Metro,” he said. “The kids are getting better coaching and structure from the ground up. I think for the bantam and the youth selects we should have a shot at eight to 12 kids.”
Pictou County will also play host to the Bantam All-Star Tournament which will be held at the Albion ball field in Stellarton the last weekend in May.
From there the core teams will be chosen.
The MacGregor midget and bantam teams are getting into full swing themselves with another tryout scheduled for this Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Stellarton indoor complex.
Heighton said baseball seems to be doing well in the area despite competition from other sports.
“I think it’s starting to come back a bit,” he said. “Two years ago New Glasgow’s numbers were up and I know even last year the numbers were up in the province.”
