'Cats shining bright

Sports

Posted By IAN SHANTZ

Posted 2 months ago

Mark wanzel PhotoUnder a trigger happy pitcher Nick Daust of the Ivy Minors narrowly escapes getting picked off by first base men Spencer Hammil of the New Lowell Knights during South Simcoe Minor mid season tournament action. June/19/10

The G20 is coming this weekend.

The Barrie Baycats have put together a pretty nice G20 of their own. That would be a 16-4 record through 20 games, as the Intercounty Baseball League forges into the hazy, busy summer days of the season's second half.

With just four losses to account for, it's been a pretty swell Group of 20 for the Baycats, who've shown all kinds of leadership en route to their first-place standing.

But, like the world leaders descending on Toronto for a few days of gazillion-dollar meet-and- greets, this seems as good a time as any for the Baycats to pat each other on the back and smile.

Indeed, for the Baycats, their start to the 36-game regular season is worth a little chatter and a little limelight.

After all, at this time last season, the Baycats sported virtually the exact record they do today. That's as consistent as it gets. And it's awfully impressive.

"It shows what the guys are made of," manager Angus Roy said. "Being in first place -- and being in first place most of last year -- we always get everybody's best shot ... best ace, best starting lineup, best everything.

"It's a testament to how we prepare."

Things won't get easier for the Baycats, who visit the back-to-back champion Brantford Red Sox Tuesday night, host the rival Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night and head to London for a doubleheader on Sunday.

But, as the season shifts forward, the Baycats can take comfort in having the second-best pitching numbers in the nine-team loop, the second-best hitting production, and some steady performances from players they'd expect nothing less from.

Former league MVP Jordan Lundberg leads the way offensively with an enormous .365 batting average to go alongside four home runs and eight RBIs. Longtime Baycats base thief Glenn Jackson again leads the league in the department with 14 steals. Dave Latour has the league's top on-base percentage (.485), while a sizable pitching staff that includes 13 arms has been as steady as ever.

Here's the brightest bit of all for fans of the Baycats organization, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in pretty awesome fashion thus far.

"To me, the scary thing is that I don't thing we're playing good baseball ... not as good as we should be playing, any-ways," Roy said, adding the team has room for improvement in specific areas, namely its situational decision-making.

As for the big photo opportunity (which will be of no shortage over at the G20)? That will have to wait around these parts, as the league's defending pennant-winners attempt to get back to the promise land for a second year in a row, after losing out to Brantford in last season's final.

One thing's for sure, the championship photo is on the Baycats' collective minds.

"Really, if we don't make the finals, this year is going to be a disappointment," Roy said. "We want to win every year ... but we're really focused this year.

"It's the 10th anniversary."

ishantz@thebarrieexaminer.com twitter.com/IanShantz

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