With some fresh faces in the mix, the Barrie Baycats are looking ahead to the new season and hoping this year things end on a winning note.
The Baycats’ home opener will be Thursday, May 19, when they host their arch-rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team that eliminated them from last year’s Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) playoffs.
Baycats president/GM and manager Josh Matlow says he has high expectations for the upcoming 2022 season.
“We’ve got our imports this year, which is good because it will add to our pitching depth. We’ve got a couple of young starters coming in that we’re excited about," Matlow told BarrieToday. "You never know what you’re going to get with the young guys, but we have high expectations, of course, and we think we’re going to make a run for the championship."
Last year was the first season back after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the league in 2020 and the first with Matlow as the bench boss. The team finished the regular season with its lowest placing (fifth) and first losing record in 14 years. They were eventually swept by the Maple Leafs in the semifinals.
Prior to that, the Baycats had won six consecutive IBL titles and had advanced to the final in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
BarrieToday asked Matlow if this was a season to start fresh with COVID restrictions loosened and the shadow of the club’s dynasty years in the rear-view mirror.
“We needed to have last year,” Matlow said. “It was very humbling with an entire new group of guys, no imports, so we didn’t have a ton of pitching. It was a good challenge, but I think we needed that. It also gives us a chance to reset and start our own dynasty.”
Reset is what the Baycats will do as Matlow named only Branfy Infante and Carson Burns as players returning from the Baycats’ previous dynasty. He also hopes veteran Jeff Cowan could be back in the mix.
"He still hasn’t given a 100 per cent, but it looks like he might be coming back," Matlow said.
Nearly everyone from last year’s squad is returning, he added.
The team will also have infielder Adam Odd and first-baseman Domenic Morea joining the club for the 2022 season.
Odd has spent four years in the IBL, splitting time between Burlington and Toronto, while Morea, a Barrie native, will make his league debut with the Baycats.
The Baycats’ home-opener is scheduled for Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m. against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Vintage Throne Stadium, formerly Coates Stadium.
