Wolverines Keeping Talent In Chatham-Kent

For baseball players looking for a place to play ‘AAA’ ball, before 2014 you’d have to drive outside Chatham-Kent. This summer however, the Western Counties Wolverines Minor Bantam ‘AAA’ team will call Fergie Jenkins Field in Chatham home, and provide a new opportunity for local baseball players.

“The goal of this team is to provide an opportunity for players from Western Counties Associaction to play at the highest level of ‘AAA’ baseball for the 2014 season,” says head coach Brendan Spence. “We believe that this option will keep more local players staying in our area to play for a Western Counties team and less players leaving to play for Windsor or London AAA teams.”

The Wolverines feature six Chatham athletes, as well as players from Sarnia and Corunna. The Western Counties Wolverines will play in several tournaments this season, including the Ontario Baseball Association ‘AAA’ championships. With their recent exhibition and tournament success last Fall as a Peewee squad, Coach Spence believes his squad will be very competitive this summer.

“We are confident that with our recent success at the Newmarket Peewee All-star tournament, that we can be very competitive at the AAA level throughout Ontario,” says Spence, referring to the tournament his team participated in last September.

The Chatham athletes on the Wolverines roster include Connor Goldsmith, Spencer Marcus, Evan Rogers, Grant Spence, Jacob Breault, and Ethan Lutz.

The Wolverines opened their season the first weekend of May collecting 9-0, a no-hitter, and 9-1 wins over the WOBA Storm. The team also collected 10-2 and 11-9 wins over the London Badgers on their opening weekend.

The Wolverines will begin their tournament season May 16-18.