Even though their baseball season isn’t set to start until the first week of May, the Thorold Anchors are already getting all their ducks in a row. Which is why they’ve launched a brand new website this week.
“It’s been in the works for a long time,” says Aaron McInnis, the team’s manager.
“We just want to get a little bit more exposure out there. Our goal since the beginning has been to be Thorold’s team of the summer. A nice outlet for people to bring their families to the ballpark and enjoy a summer evening out. We thought that it would help so the kids can get into it and follow along with their favourite players and create that atmosphere for the city.”
The Thorold Anchors play all of their home games at the baseball diamond in McMillan Park, which is set to be renovated to include a turf field.
“In the beginning I was a little bit worried when I heard the original proposal,” says McInnis.
“But after watching the council meeting where the DSBN (District School Board Niagara) put their proposal to the table and hearing the support that we have from the councillors that the DSBN should involve the user groups, and we are the number one user group at McMillan Park, now that we’ve been told we’re going to be included I’m not worried.”
Training for the new season is set to start on February 1, COVID-19 notwithstanding.
Says McInnis, “We’re meeting every week in February anyway on a zoom call and we’ll just be going over defensive coverages and our approach in play. We’re doing our best to push COVID aside and stay in our rhythm so we can start our spring training on February 1, regardless of the restrictions or not. And once they are lifted, we’ll be indoors and start our physical training.”
Because of COVID-19 it was hard to prepare the team in time for the last two baseball seasons, according to McInnis.
“Everybody got caught a little bit in 2020 and 2021 because we didn’t know when we were going to start, we didn’t know what it was going to look like and it was hard to get prepared. So this year we’ve committed to business as usual, we’re getting ready and we’re operating on the assumption that there is going to be a baseball season and we want to be ready for it as of day one.“
McInnis is already looking forward to the upcoming baseball season.
“We’ve added a few new faces, a few extra arms in the bullpen, and we think we’ve really improved the team from where it’s been. The guys on the team have been working really hard. We’ll definitely be in every ball game and have a chance to win every time. It is going to be a good season. I’m very excited.”
