Unfinished business
As last season developed, it appeared that the playoff representatives from the Northern Division were going to be all Belfast teams.
The Buccaneers and Hornets were both steady, as were the Northstars, despite a number of key injuries. With the veteran leadership of Darwin Sanchez, a free-running offense and the left arm of Melvin Woods, the maroon and gold were squeezing into the the second wild card spot, holding off a resurgent Comets team.
As the dust began to settle, it came to pass that the last playoff position would be decided on the final day of the regular season. If the Northstars defeated the Ashbourne Giants, they were in. Lose, the Comets would be matching up against the Buccaneers in the wild-card position.
As the day progressed, it was not to be a clean sweep for the Belfast teams – trailing the Giants the Northstars could not mount enough of a comeback to take the victory and their season ended a little earlier than hoped.
New season, new team.
In the second week of the 2016 season, the Northstars will travel to the International Baseball Centre in Ashbourne where the Giants await to kick off their own season. Having split the games against the Black Sox and Mariners, Sean Shackley and co. will head south having mixed their lineups to develop experience at each position. Marathon, not a sprint.
These games should see the 2016 debuts of pitchers Gordon Cuthbert and Joshua Cuthbert, adding to Shackley's warchest of arms. At this early stage of the year, the Northstars will still be tinkering with their batting orders and with veterans Stephen Rogan (1B) and Kevin O'Hare (OF) unavailable for the weekend, the new blood of Shields, Lafferty and McConville will be expected to step up.
