Barrie 15U baseball team makes history, advances to nationals

The High Performance Barrie Baycats 15U baseball team is off to the national championships in Laval, Que., this week to represent Ontario after winning in their home province to claim the prestigious honour.

The 15U Ray Carver Cup Championships sees Barrie kicking off the event with their first game against host Quebec on Thursday.

Barrie went into the provincial elimination tournament in Bradford last week and came out victorious.

“The boys put together for a weekend and we beat some good baseball teams to get this opportunity to represent Ontario this week,” said Brad Grieveson, the team's assistant coach and pitching coach.

The Barrie Minor Baseball Association team has posted an overall record of 34 wins, 20 losses and a tie this season.

They will make history as the first 15U Barrie baseball team to play for a national title.

“We’ve always been a really strong program at this age level. We’ve been a perennial power and always came up a little bit short,” Grieveson said.

The team is made up of mostly local kids, with six from Barrie, three from Alliston, two from Collingwood and one player each from Wasaga Beach, Orillia, Erin, Whitby, Coldwater, Midland and Midhurst.

The Barrie players include Carter Grieveson, Kane Ricciotti, Zander Parsons, Wes Crozier, Sam Thiessen and Ben Lessard, while Mitch Bardens hails from Midhurst. 

Andrew Crozier is the club’s head coach, with Grieveson, Stephen Parsons and Suri Vinseh as assistants, who are all from Barrie. Also helping out with the team is Kaira Bates of Stoney Creek.

"We have a very strong pitching staff and we hit the ball very well as a team," Grieveson said. 

It’s no surprise the pitching squad has done well, as Grieveson played with the Intercounty Baseball League's Barrie Baycats from 2002 to 2006, returning in 2020 and continuing to the present as one of their pitchers.

“I’m still able to pitch at a high level,” he said. “It’s not just lip service for my kids — they can actually see me go out and do what I preach.”

Grieveson said the Barrie 15U team is looking forward to a “good weekend” of baseball.

“My biggest message to them is to embrace the experience and enjoy it,” he added. “Even if we have some kids that go on further with baseball, this could be the pinnacle of baseball for them.

"Not a lot of players have the opportunity to play for a national championship.”

For more information about this weekend's tournament, click here.