One of the best teams in the Northwest is coming to Trail to tangle with the AM Ford Trail Orioles this weekend.
The Seattle Studs make their way to Butler Park on Saturday to play a three-game series with the Orioles.
The O’s Pacific International League (PIL) rival leads the league with a 12-2 record and won the Kamloops International baseball tournament last week for the third year in a row, and sixth time in the past seven years.
It is the first meeting between the Studs and O’s this season and manager/coach Jim Maniago says, “They are probably the best team that will have played here in a long time.”
But it doesn’t mean the O’s won’t give the Studs a game. The Orioles currently own a three game winning streak and have been playing arguably their best ball of the season.
“The way we have been playing lately, I think we’ll be fine,” said Maniago. “The last couple weeks we’ve started to put things together. We’re building, which what our plan was right from the start to build towards the end of the year.”
Last week Trail trounced the Vernon Diamondbacks to guarantee its spot in the Western Canadian Championship in Winnipeg next month, and the games against Seattle this weekend should be a good challenge to prepare them for the provincial baseball championship in Prince George Aug. 4-6.
Scott Rhynold will likely get the start in the opening match, with Kellen Jones and Darrin Kissock taking the mound for the following two games.
Game times are 5 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday.