It’s time to dust off those foam fingers, as the Thorold Community Credit Union Thorold Anchors are hosting the OBA Senior A Championship at McMillan Park this weekend.
Last year, the Anchors took home the trophy in the C-division, but in stead of moving up to B, they’re set to take on teams in the A-division.
“We enjoy hosting the OBAs and A was available,” explains the team’s manager Aaron McInnis, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “We sat together with the coaching staff and we talked about whether or not we thought we could compete in A. We agreed that we could, so we put a bid in and got it.”
Now that the Anchors are playing with the big dogs, the pressure is on.
“I think excitement is stronger than nerves right now,” says McInnis. “We haven’t been in A before so the expectations are not as high. I don’t think there’s pressure on us to win but there’s a little bit of pressure to show ourselves that we can compete.”
McInnis says it’s important to the team to be able to host the tournament in Thorold.
“It’s great for the city,” he says. “When we go away for the OBAs, our faithful fans will follow us via [social media] but it’s not the same as spending the day at the ballpark and watching all the competitive baseball. I think the city really enjoys that. I think the city takes a lot of pride in it. For us, that’s really important.”
After taking a little break, the team will start warming up for the championship tonight.
“We’ll gear up and start practicing,” says McInnis. “We’re right where we need to be as a team. All 25 guys are in a brotherhood together. They’re either going to win together or they’re going to lose together, but they’re going to do it together.”
The team is raring to get out on the diamond again, after taking a loss against the Beamsville Yellow Jackets in the playoffs of the NDBA Senior Baseball League.
“We played some good baseball,” McInnis says. “We did take it to game 3 in a three-game series, we won one. We competed and weren’t that far off. We look forward to seeing [the Beamsville Yellow Jackets] on Friday night at the OBAs for a rematch.”
But most of all, McInnis is looking forward to seeing the Thorold fans out at the ballpark.
“We expect lots of people to come out — the people of Thorold love baseball,” he says. “It’s both exciting and a privilege to represent Thorold.”
The OBA Senior A Championship will take place at McMillan Park between Friday, Sept. 1 and Sunday, Sept. 3.
The Anchors will play their first match against the Beamsville Yellow Jackets on Friday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m. at McMillan Park.
For the schedule, and to keep up to date with the scores, click here.
