Barnstormers season should be considered a success

The scoreboard says the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers were swept in the first round of the Intercounty Baseball League playoffs. However, looking at the big picture, the first season of the Barnstormers should be seen as a success.

Here are a few reasons why the future is bright for the Barnstormers.

Fifth in league

As an expansion team it’s hard to get momentum. League insiders thought the team would likely be in the bottom-two and have a single-digit win total. Instead the Barnstormers finished fifth in the nine-team league and had a 20-22 record. More importantly, they finished the regular season strong,

Core has been built

Good IBL teams have a strong core. Putting a team every season if you have have a good core of veterans coming back every year. All you have to do is bring in a couple players to fill in the holes and bring up two or three good graduating juniors or a local player who is away playing college baseball.

Hopefully the junior program in Chatham thrives in the future and becomes a good pipeline. It appears that St. Clair College and Lambton College both have strong programs, and they good be great feeder systems for the Barnstormers.

Players such as Spencer Marcus, Braxton Haggith, Daniel Battel. Spencer Morin, Anthony Polowick, Lee Kucera, Garrett Day, Brock Whitson, Aden Ryan and Jalen Butcher are a big part of the team’s future. Most of them are under 25 years-old and should be in fine form when the Barnstormers win the IBL championship in 2029.

It should be noted that IBL is a strong commitment for a lot of players. It’s hard to do with kids and a job, as you are committing to playing every weekend from May to early September, plus a couple days during the week as well. It’s easy when you’re young and single, but harder as players get older.

Raves from not only local fans but out-of-town fans

Fergie Jenkins Field was cozy this year, averaging just under 1,000 fans a game. Expansion is something that will have to be looked at in the future. It’s very likely that Barnstormers co-owner Dom Dinelle has Chatham-Kent mayor Darrin Canniff and Chatham-Kent parks guru Rob Pollock on speed dial.

From all reports the team was well-organized off-the-field and put on a great game-day experience. A strength of the team is it’s strong sponsor base and a strong team of volunteers.
I’m sure players will talk to other players and it will help with recruitment.

Merchandise

It’s good to see Barnstormers merchandise being work by not only adults, but by kids as well.

Overall, the 2024 season should be considered a win for the Barnstormers. They were competitive and are building up a strong fanbase. It should be interesting to see what 2025 has in store for the team.