The boys of summer are just about back in town. The Moose Jaw Miller Express are preparing for another season of Western Major Baseball League action.
With a new season comes new expectations and the Express are anticipating another long run into the playoffs.
“The last three years, we’ve made the playoffs, but we’ve ended without getting to the championship round and are immediate expectation is that we’ve built a team to get to the championship round and win it,” said head coach Michael Hunt.
The league added four more games this season to have a balanced 46 game schedule. With the addition of games, the Express had to fill some extra holes, including pitching.
“Pitching wise, I think we are going to be strong,” said Hunt. “With the four extra games, we had to expand our roster a bit to add the arms to help us out there. I think we got as quality arms as we could get and they are going to help us out on that side of the ball.”
Despite needing extra players to fill those roster positions, Hunt feels all those needs were addressed with quality athletes that will help the team move forward.
“Everybody that I had targeted to try to bring up this year, we were able to land,” said Hunt. “Obviously there were going to be some holes to fill with guys being seniors last year and being ineligible to come back this year. I fill we’ve got quality guys to come in and make it exciting and competitive as possible.”
With 23 games at home this season, Hunt has recruited players that will maximize the offensive talent and strategic use of Ross Wells Park.
“We are going to be an offensive team, I feel,” Hunt stated. “I tried to build our team using the strengths that we have. With a relatively short porch at Ross Wells Park, I thought that maximizing our offence is a good way to get some wins.”
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
