From the Midland Daily News
But Explorers’ manager Gregg Sauve, a Midland native, said that having a local flavor to the squad is important as well.
“Anytime we can add some more Midland players, that’s where we want to go,” he said. “We don’t have to go out of state. We have good players here.”
This year’s team has several players with Midland connections, including local high school graduates Shea Bryant (Dow High), Dustin Collamer (Bullock Creek), and Catlin Porter (Midland High), along Jeff Nowaczyk, Northwood assistant baseball coach and a former player at Northwood and Central Michigan.
“It’s really important to have some Midland identity,” Sauve said. “It helps bring the family and friends out. We have the big (ISC) tournament in town this year and are playing ball a couple other times here. It gives (spectators) a chance to watch people that they know locally.
“There’s a lot of talent in the local (fastpitch) leagues as well. Some of the other teams have quality ballplayers as well.”
After an opening weekend in which the Explorers finished 4-1 at The Lefty Bartos and Lee Isenhart Memorial Tournament in Midland, they play in a competitive eight-team Legends of Fastball Classic in Kitchener, Ont. While the tournament starts tonight, the Explorers’ first game is at 9 p.m. Friday against the New Zealand Black Sox.
Midland also faces the Hill United Chiefs (Ont.), who won the Bartos/Isenhart Tournament, and the Kitchener Cubs on Saturday. The championship round is Sunday.
“We had some good teams in our tournament this past weekend, but at Kitchener, all of the teams will be good,” Sauve said. “We’re going to play some real tough teams. We will have to be ready to play this weekend.
“We have to get a good weekend under our belt,” Sauve added. “Hopefully we will swing the bats a little better. (The hitting) takes a little bit to get going because we can’t all get together and practice. A lot of guys come from different areas. Once we get to the tournaments, we’ll get up early Saturday before the games and do some hitting and drills.”