A New Year's Letter from Our President

Written by: President David Mills

BARRIE - COVID-19 was a formidable opponent for the Baycats in 2020. Our season scorecards highlighted the results of those games.

On defence, he shut us out, he threw a perfect game against us, strikes against us were plentiful, and he even struck out some of our sponsors. His home plate was everywhere. For a while, he locked us and our gates and dressing room down. We couldn't move, but then his defence relaxed a bit, but not to the point of allowing us to score. Our defence was sound with some very good strategies, but he kept coming at us never allowing us to catch our breath.

On offence, he pounded us with hits,  he hit and run against us, he ran up the score, and he stole many of our bases. We committed zero errors but he kept coming. Our offence was doing the best we could possibly do, but still, he shut us out.

It wasn't just the Baycats that did not fare well against him. The whole league could not overcome his power and tenacity -- Not a team could overcome this new opponent in 2020.

However, a new powerhouse team has joined our league for the 2021 season, the “Vaccinating Destroyers”. They will be playing at all home parks in front of joyous fans, providing super defence while injecting strength into our pitching arms. 

Watch the “Vaccinating Destroyers” get the final putout!

NOT ALL WAS LOST

There was no Baycats baseball played in 2020. However, that did not stop off-field activities from proceeding at a rapid rate, as our general manager and field manager Josh Matlow -- with the help of Dante De Caria, our newly hired director of player procurement -- have been actively putting an impressive roster together including many new player signings, made up of both local players and imports.

One of the most important aspects of the offseason was to communicate with our fans and the local media, keeping them abreast of our activities. In this regard, the Baycats organization appointed Ryan Eakin as our media director. Ryan is filling our website with many informative pieces. He has written 20 articles and podcasts highlighting the Baycats' history of 20 years. If you haven’t read these great stories, check out our website.

Together with Josh, our social media has taken off.

BESIDES THESE POSITIVE ASPECTS, MANY GOOD THINGS ARE COMING IN 2021!

Through Josh, we now have a year-round apparel supplier -- Mitch Scott from Starting Lineup Uniforms & Apparel. He has some awesome apparel items for all ages. Visit our website shop by clicking here.

Mitch has made an unbelievable offer for our 2021 season. He will be supplying all-new uniform tops, home, away and retro. There is no doubt that the Baycats will be the best-dressed team in the IBL.

Josh has also been busy adding sponsors to our operation, all of which you can find by clicking here and here, with many more to be announced in the near future.

Meanwhile, our newly installed video board (aka Keepertron) will have some unbelievable videos displayed at each game. Our team videographer and photographer Brian Backland has created some outstanding videos to keep fans entertained.

Plans are also now in place for an Alumni Day at the park. We will be inviting former players, volunteers, and staff to this special game. A 20-year unique anniversary book is being developed by our PA announcer Mike Clark, our pointstreak operative and team statistician Tim Clark, and Ryan, tracing the history of the Baycats since 2001.

Lastly for the upcoming season, all Baycats home games -- as well as other IBL teams’ games -- will be providing video broadcasts. We are already lined up with our play-by-play man Ben Davy. Ben performed this same role several years ago on Rogers TV and did play-by-play of the Colts for many years.

Come and join the exciting times and fun at Coates Stadium!

For more information, follow the Baycats on Facebook and Twitter at @iblbaycats, on Instagram at @barriebaycats, and on Youtube at Barrie Baycats TV.

Lastly, remember that you can buy tickets to all of our home games here.

Photo: Brian Backland/Brian Backland Photography