Mid Island Pirates on top of the Premier Baseball League. (Dan Marshall)

By Dan Marshall

Pirates on top

Mid-Island Pirates win big on and off the field

Jun 13, 2019 | 5:40 PM

NANAIMO – To say times are good for the Mid-Island Pirates baseball team is an understatement.

They’re first in their league, an alumnus was drafted to the major leagues, several players are going to the All-Star Game and on Friday, June 14 the Pirates will host an exhibition game against a Cuban team.

The Pirates were expected to improve for the 2019 season, but coach Doug Rogers says he’s keeping an even keel with their first place spot and 20-6 record.

“It’s funny when you have a team like this you look at the games you’ve lost ,not at the games you win,” Rogers said. “We’ve lost six games and we could have had four of them, but it’s a nice roll to be on right now.”

Mid-Island beat Parksville 7-5 on Wednesday night. Their next league game is a noon double header on Father’s Day against the Victoria Eagles at Serauxmen Stadium.

it's official

New Nanaimo & Oceanside MLA's officially sworn in

4h ago

fall storm

Overnight winds pack a punch across Nanaimo and Vancouver Island

9h ago

impaired driving

Drug impaired driver sentenced in Nanaimo for death of retired RCMP officer

14h ago

The day before before the Victoria games, seven Pirates will play in Langley in the PBL All-Star Game.

Dylan Brock, Connor Caskanette, Josh Hill, Aaron Marsh, Colby Neff, Marcus Steen and Ryan Waatainen will be joined by Rogers and Mid-Island assistant coach Keith Radix for the event.

Jackson Stevens was also selected but won’t be able to attend the game.

The All-Star game follows a special week for alumnus Josh Burgmann and the entire Pirates organization.

The Nanaimo native, who last pitched for the Pirates in 2015, was selected in the MLB draft in the 5^thround by the Chicago Cubs.

The Western Washington University pitcher was the highest Canadian selection in the draft.

Rogers believes there’s a bright future ahead for the 21-year-old.

“I think he’ll do well down there. He’s such a bulldog when it comes to competing on the mound,” Rogers said. “I’m pretty proud of him. It was good for our program and good for baseball in Nanaimo.”

Reflecting on Burgmann’s time with the Pirates, Rogers said there were so many dominant performances the memories started to meld together.

It was Josh’s demeanor and attitude in the dugout that made him special, Rogers explained.

“His ability as a teammate, that stuck out for me,” Rogers said. “He was arguably the best teammate I’ve seen. With all his abilities and kids that were not nearly as good as him and ones that were close, it didn’t matter to him. Everybody was a friend, everybody was a teammate. He cheered everybody on and encouraged everybody the same as his best friend.”

Burgmann has been in the spotlight for a long time as a former member of the Canadian junior national team. 2019 is actually the second time he’s been drafted by MLB.

In 2016, the St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in the 30^th round but he opted to go to school in Western Washington instead.

After three years of college ball he’ll now transition to playing professionally.

At home, excitement is building for a Friday night exhibition game against a team visiting from Cuba.

It’s their second face-off, after Mid-Island beat Cuban 3-2 down in Duncan.

Rogers expected it will be another competitive outing from the Cuban squad, who are getting ready for an international tournament in Grand Forks.

Friday’s game is a 6 p.m. start at Serauxmen Stadium and admission is $5.

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77