The Everett Merchants open their 2011 amateur baseball season tonight with a home game against the Northwest Honkers.
The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Everett Memorial Stadium.
The Merchants’ 29-man roster is made up primarily of local junior-college players, with 12 from Everett Community College, five from Edmonds CC and three from 2011 Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges champion Bellevue.
The group includes pitcher Ricky Holm and infielder Mike Gange, both from Marysville. They each earned second-team All-NWAACC honors at Everett this spring.
“I think our strength is going to be pitching and we are going to play pretty darn good defense,” said Harold Pyatte, who is entering his 39th season as the Merchants’ head coach.
The starting rotation includes Holm, a 6-foot-3 left-hander, and right-handers Matt Cooper (Bellevue), Andrew Groves (Bellevue) and Chris Seybold (Everett). Holm, who pitched for the Merchants last summer, figures to be the ace of the staff.
“Unless,” Pyatte added, “he gets drafted, which he may.”
Offensively, Pyatte said the Merchants are going to be mostly a “small-ball team,” although they do have some power in infielders Sam Parris from Edmonds CC and Karsten Streiby from Arizona Western.
“Both those guys are 6-5, 6-6 so we are looking for them to put up some numbers,” Pyatte said.
For the complete Merchants roster, click here.
Everett competes in the 10-team Pacific International League along with the Honkers, the Burnaby Bulldogs, the Seattle Studs, the Kelowna Jays, the Coquitlam Angels, the Kamloops Sundevils, the Trail Orioles, the Nanaimo Coal Miners and the Langley Blaze.
Among the highlights of the Merchants’ schedule is their annual exhibition game with the Everett AquaSox, the Seattle Mariners’ minor-league affiliate in the Class A Northwest League. This year’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 15 at Everett Memorial Stadium.
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