BY JOHN DECOSTE
Kings County Advertiser/Register
The Kentville Wildcats continue to dig themselves a hole in the Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League standings.
The Wildcats (5-13 on the season) solidified their hold on last place in the NSSBL with a 5-0 loss July 24 in Sydney, the team’s fourth loss in a row and sixth in its past seven games.
Kentville starter Kevin Nichols, who gave way to Clyde Landry in the seventh inning, allowed just six hits and probably deserved better.
The Sooners, who improved to 4-3 against the Wildcats this season, turned their six hits into five runs with the help of four Kentville errors.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, could manage just five hits off Sydney starter Justin Brewer, who went the distance for the victory.
Beau Chiasson had two singles and stole two bases for the Sooners. Matt Denney also had a pair of steals to go along with a single, and Paul Doucette had an RBI single. Nick Hill singled and doubled and Mike Lockhart had a pair of singles for Kentville.
After travelling to Halifax July 27, the Wildcats return home to host the Pelham Canadians August 1. Immediately prior to that game, a 4 p.m. start, ceremonies will be held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Wildcats’ 1985 national championship team.
According to Sandy VanBlarcom, a member of the 1985 Wildcats and one of the organizers of the 25th anniversary reunion, the day will include morning golf and lunch at Ken-Wo, the game in the afternoon, then dinner, refreshments and a get-together at the Kings Arms Pub.
“The response has been pretty good,” VanBlarcom says. “Not everyone is able to come, but a lot of us are able to take part.”
Danny Payne, a mining engineer currently living and working in Australia, “is the furthest away. He’ll be in Pennsylvania this weekend and, if he can work a flight, he’ll be here.”
Fortunately, many of the 1985 team still live in the local area, including Sandy and Barney VanBlarcom, Peter Goucher, Bill Young, Dave Harris, Mark Zwicker, John McDonald, Bruce Ross and current Wildcats head coach Ian Mosher.
“This is the first time we’ve had a reunion of this particular team,” VanBlarcom says, though many of the team members who live locally have participated in past Wildcats’ anniversary celebrations.
Along with winning the national title, the 1985 team “brought baseball back to Kentville, as there wasn’t ball here in 1984. We hosted, and won, nationals – and in really dramatic fashion,” with a huge late-inning comeback in the championship game against Ontario.
All in all, it should be a weekend to remember for the team members.
“Now all we need is for the weatherman to co-operate.”
jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca
