by Angela Sanford
In 2007, the Hants North Baseball Association came to fruition and over the past 17 years it has been rewarded with a number of accolades and tournament titles, including 16 provincial titles. Most recently, the association’s U15 team earned the gold medal, making them the Atlantic Champions - the second time said title has been won by the Hants North Jays. Interestingly enough, the 2024 tournament was played on the exact field the previous Jays won their title on in 2011, in Fredericton, NB.
In the 2011 win, one of the highlights of the final game was the offer by Devin Sanford to allow each of his teammates to cut a section of his mullet when (if) they won. He stood by his offer and the players and caches, alike, each cut a lock of his hair. This year the highlights were on and off the field, as the players did some spontaneous team building and rented scooters, making valuable memories together.
Coach Levi Spencer shared his delight in the team’s capacity to become a unified group, noting that the players started the season playing as individuals but grew to play as a solid team accomplishing great things. The “mental part of the game has to be strong” and “we (the coaches) let the team know how much we believed in them all weekend,” he affirms. The players acknowledged the motivational speeches of their coaching staff before each game. Jaxon Singer noted that this was his favourite moment of the successful weekend.
The U15 team played five games over three days, recording but one loss and dominating their opponents in each of their wins. Another dominating factor of the weekend was the increasingly famous “Blue Army.” Some of the army dedicated their entire weekend to cheering from the bleachers, while others beat the rising sun on Sunday morning to ensure they were there for the championship game. As the community has grown to expect the loyalty of the fans showered the team with cheers and pride from those in attendance, while many of us followed the journey closely on social media from home and other obligations.
While the team reveled in the moment, there are plans in the making to truly celebrate the team, their coaches, and their fans on a successful championship and their representation of the Hants North community.
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