HANTSPORT, N.S. — The Hantsport Shamrocks won’t be dusting off their ballcaps this season.
Adrian Lloy, catcher, coach and manager of the Hantsport Shamrocks, said they’ve made the tough decision to take a year off of competing in the Nova Scotia Intermediate Baseball League.
Lloy said there was a “lack of commitment” for the season.
“There can be no team without enough players, and we didn’t have enough players to comfortably move forward with the season,” he said.
“This has been an issue for a couple of years and It’s been making it very challenging,” he said.
“We’re going to take some time away and re-evaluate in future years,” he added.
The decision to request a hiatus was made in early March of 2019.
The Shamrocks are not the only team taking a break this season. The relatively new team, the Kennetcook Braves, are also taking the year off.
But the league is also welcoming two teams back into the fold that had taken previous years off. The teams are the Pictou County Albions and the Amherst Athletic’s.
“It’s just a changing of the times. Baseball has always gone through lulls, where commitment has gone downhill due to various things,” he said.
“I would like nothing more than to be playing baseball in Hantsport this season; it’s something I’ve been doing for the past 15 years,” Lloy continued.
“You just can’t field the team without players.”
Lloy said there will continue to be baseball played in the community, with Hantsport minor ball and others. He’s hopeful that some of those young players will eventually join the NSIBL team in the near future.
Jason Hanes, vice president of the NSIBL and a coach with the Windsor Knights, said it’s always tough to see a founding member of the league take a hiatus, but said they’ll continue on with a seven-team league.
“It’ll make things a bit harder for the teams, with a bit more travelling involved,” Hanes said.
Hanes said teams often go through droughts like what Hantsport is experiencing, with an established roster retiring and not enough new players to take their spots.
“It’s very cyclical with players, we often see teams come up together,” he said.
The season is set to start on May 24.
