Alpines Reflect On Winning N.B. Baseball Title

The Saint John Alpines are celebrating a provincial baseball title that has been 21 years in the making.

Saint John edged the Fredericton Royals 2-1 on Saturday night to capture the New Brunswick Senior Baseball League title in five games.

Terre Hunter, general manager of the Alpines, said it is an exciting time for the entire team.

“We’ve put a lot of work into getting here and it’s just nice to be able to sit back and enjoy it,” Hunter said in an interview on Monday morning.

Hunter said he believes a lot of things came together at the right time to help the Alpines secure the provincial title.

He said there were a lot of contributions from various players throughout the season, particularly during the playoffs.

“Some of our junior affiliates came up and played roles for us when other players weren’t able to make it due to injuries or work commitments and that sort of thing,” said Hunter.

There was also a lot of timely hitting in the playoffs, which Hunter said they did not always get in previous years.

The Alpines also had two new coaches this year: Jamie Richard and Trevor Beach.

“Over the season, they learned about the players, the players learned about them. They worked together and came up with a winning game plan for the playoffs,” said Hunter.

While the series was decided in five games, it took nearly two weeks to play those games. Game two was postponed six times due to rain or wet field conditions.

Hunter said they knew they would finish the series, but there were some concerns.

“As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler, we were concerned it would get a little bit uncomfortable, especially for the fans, but we did get through,” he said.

Saint John will now have the chance to represent New Brunswick at the nationals set to be held in Red Deer, Alta., next August.

Hunter said the team will need to fundraise about $40,000 over the coming months.

“Although, as one of the players pointed out to me Saturday night, the nationals are a bonus. What we really wanted to win was our own league, and we’ve accomplished that goal.”