Welcome to our website! You are visiting the home
of the Niagara Metros of the Central Ontario Major Baseball League. Since 1985, we've been the home for
Elite Senior baseball in the Niagara region.
.
Special thanks to Accurate Litho and Print for supplying our "Front Page Design".
The St. Catharines Metros continue to
practice in preparation for their 2008 campaign, which begins on Saturday, May 10 in Milton. The next practice is Thursday
at 6:00 PM. Many of the "college boys" are expected to return from the U.S. in the next couple of weeks, to round out
what looks to be a very competitive roster. That final roster will be announced next week.
The Metros are hosting the Burlington
Brants, this coming Saturday, May 3rd for an exhibition game at Community Park. The game is part of the Niagara Umpires
clinic, happening all weekend at Community and MacKenzie Parks. As the umpires get to evaluate each other, so too will
the Metros and Brants, in preparation for the season. Game time on Saturday is 1:00.
The St. Catharines Metros "family" got
a little bigger on Thursday...and Brad and Kelly Namtzu added a shortstop to their "double play combo".
At 7:55 PM (perfect timing for missing
the practice, Brad) Kelly gave birth to a healthy and happy 8 pound, 7 ounce baby girl. The couple have named her Taylor
Nichole, and both mommy and baby are doing great.
Its the second daughter for the Namtzus
and a baby sister for Kylie. Once again, congrats, guys!
Metros' lefthanded starter Jason Ermers
is having quite a spring! Ermers, who calls Benedictine College in Kansas his other home team, is putting up numbers
that could qualify him for All-Conference status. Benedictine plays in the Heart of America Conference of the NAIA
Collegiate Baseball Association, and although the team, with a record of 14-23, is not having a particulary great season,
Mr. Ermers is.
As of April 23, Jason was leading the
Ravens in Games Appeared with 11 and Innings Pitched with 46. He has compiled a 3-4 Won-Loss Record with a team-leading
3.13 E.R.A., and his 45 Strikeouts also leads the club. If you add in an impressive 14 Walks Allowed, his K/BB ratio
is 3.2 to 1. Finally, Jason has allowed the opposition a very stingy .258 Batting Average.
The lefty ace had his best outing
of the spring this past Saturday, as he threw a complete game 5-hitter, in an 8-1 victory over MidAmerica Nazarene University.
He walked 2 and struck out 15!!
Great job, Mr. Ermers. We look forward
to seeing you in mid-May!
The St. Catharines Metros got a break
from Mother Nature this past week, and managed to have two excellent practices - outdoors...to get the 2008 season underway.
Last night at Dempsey Park, the turnout was very good and the team got some much needed infield and outfield defensive work
in, as well as a few rips at real baseballs (not wiffle balls). The outdoor workouts will continue Thursday at Dempsey...6:00
PM.
The schedule will continue on a Saturday,
Monday, Thursday pattern for two more weeks, until the regular COBA season begins (for St. Catharines) on May the
10th in Milton. In addition, the Metros are scheduled to play an exhibition game with the Burlington Brants on Saturday,
May 3 at Community Park, as part of the Niagara District Umpires clinic going on there all weekend. Game time for that
one is 1:00.
By the way, we posted some new pictures
here on the website. A few shots of our final indoor workout at Thorold High School. Check the "Photo Album" link...to
the left of this page.
Finally,
we have a new feature movie clip for you to enjoy, to take you up to the start of the season. It is a very interesting
and funny bit by comedian George Carlin...as he compares the technical and war-like merits of Football vs. the pastoral and laid-back
merits of Baseball. It's 5 minutes of pure genius as he takes a look at two of our favourite sports.
Enjoy...
The St. Catharines Metros are ready to
shake off the winter rust, and really "air out" their workouts in preparation for the 2008 season. The possible final
indoor workout will take place this evening at Thorold High School. The starting time is 8:30. Then, if Mother
Nature cooperates, the team will move outside, for that long-awaited first outdoor workout. The schedule for the outdoor
workouts for the next week, or so, is as follows:
Saturday, April 19 - 1:00 to 3:00
Monday, April 21 - 6:00 to 8:00
Thursday, April 24 - 6:00 to 8:00
All of the preceeding practices will be
at Dempsey Park, at the end of Rockwood Ave., in St. Catharines.
If the weather doesn't cooperate and the
first couple of practices don't happen, we will have one more indoor workout, next Tuesday, April 22 - 8:30 at Thorold
H.S. But the Metros are really hoping that the weather is warm and dry, so they can finally get 2008 underway.
All prospective players are asked to contact
any of the 4-man Coaching Staff, if they can't make an outdoor practice. See you on the field!
Just to lighten the mood for the next
couple of weeks, the St. Catharines Metros are happy to present a scene from one of the most beloved baseball movies of all
time. "The Sandlot" features a bunch of unknown kids as they recount their teenage days playing ball down at the sandlot,
in the 1970's.
The story concerns a newcomer to the neighbourhood,
and his struggle to be accepted, despite the fact that he's not the best player, and even worse...doesn't know too much about
the game. It's a loveable look back for everyone who played the game as a kid.
Our scene is a classic. It's all
about the boy's first experiment with chewing tobbacco. Here's a tip...never dip...at least not before going on a carnival
fun ride! Scroll to the bottom of the page and press "play", to see a great clip.
As mentioned last week, the COBA Major
Baseball League ran into a series of problems, when the Clarkson franchise, which had joined the league just two weeks earlier,
decided to fold before holding their first practice. Their withdrawl caused a series of scheduling issues and playoff
format conotations. Well, the COBA executive board met last night, and came up with the solutions to the problems, and
it now looks as though the league is ready to proceed into the 2008 season.
The solutions regarding scheduling were
fairly simple...just drop all the games involving Clarkson from the schedule. While this did cause some holes in the
schedule for some teams, it was decided to allow the individual teams to use those holes to reschedule postponed or rained
out games.
As for the playoff format, there was some
tweaking done to make the format viable, and in fact, makes the divional setup even more meaningful. What happens now
is this...
The 1st place team in each division gets
a bye into a 6-team double knockout tournament. The remaining 4 teams in each division play 2 out of three series, for
the right to advance to the tourney. 2nd place meets 5th place (in each divison), while 3rd plays 4th. The team
with the higher seeding will get the extra home game in the 2 out of 3's. Once those series wrap up, the 4 winning teams
will advance, joining the two division winners in the 6 team double knockout. Teams will be re-seeded (based on their
final standings) with the Champion being declared on Sunday, August 24th. This new format will guarantee that no
team will have to travel too far in their initial series (since the divisions are set up by geography), and it will also guarantee
that there will be 3 teams from each division advancing to the Championship tourney.
So, with these last minute touches on
the schedule and playoffs complete, the teams can concentrate on getting themselves ready for the season, which begins on
Saturday, May 3rd, when Mississauga North plays in Milton. The Metros season opens a week later, Saturday, May 10th,
also in Milton. Check the "2008 schedule" page (link to the left of this page) for the new, updated Metros schedule.
By the way, the Metros continue
their indoor workouts tonight at Thorold High School. Starting time for the remaining indoor practices is 8:30.
Check out ourShowcase Filmfor the period of August 23 to September 7.
Just scroll
to the bottom of this page and press "Play".
__________________________________
Click to visit the "St. Catharines Standard" Website.
Thank You:
To the St. Catharines Standard
for allowing us to use pictures and articles throughout this website.
.
.
Niagara Metros website reaches 100,000 hits on April 18, 2010.
hits since December, 2004
Thanks for visiting
.
Thank You to our corporate sponsor - HunMar and Associates. We appreciate your support!
.
Niagara Metros Bi-Weekly "Baseball Film
Feature"
.
This week on
our "Baseball Film Feature", we are taking you back to February of 2008...and looking at the testimony that
got Roger Clemens in so much trouble. If you missed it, on August 19th a U.S. federal grand jury indicted Roger
Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The 19-page indictment charges Clemens with three counts of
making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony before the House Committee
on Oversight and Government Reform. According to the United States attorney's office, Clemens faces a maximum sentence of
30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, but under the current sentencing guidelines, a conviction would likely bring 15-21
months.
So what was it that he said that got the U.S. Congress so steamed? We have it for you right here.
Just press play, and judge for yourself...was Roger lying??
Don't forget to check out the
Metros Archive Section!
You will see the history of
our team, as well as the past glories of St. Catharines Senior Baseball in words and pictures dating back to the 1940's.
Just click on the link near the top of this Main Home Page.
