All hands to the pump
Bank holiday weekends are usually for painting and decorating, doing the garden or maybe a bit of spring cleaning.
Pass.
Over the next three days all the clubs of the Belfast American Sports Association will be called into action in Belfast and beyond.
Leading off, the 1-1 Belfast Northstars continue their traditional early season travels, travelling to the Peace Link in Clones to match up against the Cavan Comets (1-3) in a rare single header outing (12pm). The game will see the first game in 2017 for the Northstars for Randy Cornwell, fighting back from an arm injury as well as a welcome to Baseball Ireland for Nate Heater.
On Sunday, the Ulster Team (1-1) travel a bit further south to Black Sox Park where the Greystones Mariners await, also boasting a 1-1 record (11:30am/14:30pm). The 2017 season is still in its infancy, and both the Northstars and the Ulster side are still jostling for initial position in their respective tables. The Northstars are still waiting for their full roster to become available, so Sean Shackley will be attempting to develop depth at key positions in order to bolster the defending champions for another deep run into October.
While Randy Cornwell and Adrian Kelly are leading the Ulster side into the fray, the Razorbacks will be warming up for their first game of the season at Newforge (Sunday 2pm), welcoming the Antrim Jets to south Belfast.
Even though this is the first game for the Jets, they have already matched up against the Hogs in a friendly game on the 5th March. The Razorbacks were successful on that day with touchdowns for Tedford and Best helping to take the matchup 12-6. A productive rookie day saw some new players join the side in February, deepening a squad that saw many players play both sides of the ball in 2016. An improving line and with options for the run, the Hogs will move into the 2017 season with high hopes.
Breathe....
Wrapping up the long weekend, the Belfast Angels travel to that same Newforge Lane to match up against the Sliders (7pm)who defeated the Halos twice last season, including a walk off win for the team in green at Strandtown Primary School in early 2016. Shane Hanna's team will have confidence moving into the game having put in a good performance against the Bangor Buccaneers last weekend but much like their BASA colleagues, there's a long way to go.
