Hopefuls between the ages of 13-18 can tryout for the Mid Island Pirates Jan 22 at Arbutus Meadows. Regular season games for Pirates organization will begin in April. (Mid Island Pirates)

By Dan Marshall

Tryout Time

Pirates offering tryouts for bantam, junior and senior baseball teams

Jan 22, 2022 | 6:06 AM

NANAIMO — Teenagers looking to get into high level baseball have a chance to try out for the Mid Island Pirates.

An event for 13-18 year olds is scheduled for Arbutus Meadows in Nanoose Bay from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 22.

Larson Bauck who shares ownership and general manager duties for the organization and is also the senior Pirates head coach, said anyone is welcome to tryout.

“Being around the baseball community you have an idea who’s out there. But every year there’s a kid who comes out who’s a pleasant surprise.”

Bauck explained having a handle on the fundamentals is important but it’s not the number one thing the coaches are looking for.

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“Athleticism is something you can’t teach and we’re looking for ‘projectability’. In baseball those things are arm strength, hitting for power, hitting for average, fielding their position and speed. Those are the five things every player is graded on.”

Three levels bantam, junior and senior play under the Pirates umbrella.

As the senior coach Bauck is optimistic he will have a strong club when the Premier Baseball League regular season starts in April.

“We had six grade 10’s on the senior squad last year and they come in with a year of PBL experience under their belt. There’s a lot of good grade 11’s who will help us win games and some grade 12’s who are really strong ball players as well.”

One of the challenges facing the Pirates is the current availability of indoor and outdoor facilities.

The players had been making great strides in their training at Nanaimo’s Caged Athletics, but an unexpected renovation has meant indoor training had to be done elsewhere.

“Caged has been huge for our program,” Bauck said. “Two former players run it and they have all the best and latest technology but right now we can’t use it for our player development.”

With the demand from different user groups for field space the Pirates will have to move around a bit when the season begins.

“With six or six seven different baseball programs and only two full size diamonds it’s presented a massive challenge. The sport continues to grow in our community and we’re in desperate need of another full size diamond and baseball diamonds in general.”

The junior pirates will play exclusively at Mariner Field in 2022 while the seniors will play some games at Serauxmen Stadium and some at Mariner Field as well.

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