Experienced Legionaires eye MJBL repeat

When the St. Boniface Legionaires won the Manitoba Junior Baseball League championship, the sweetest part was knowing they’d get the chance to do it again with the same group.

The Legionnaires will defend their league crown with a roster that is almost fully intact from the one that snapped the club’s 13-year drought last summer. The team could see upwards of 15 of the 20 players from a season ago dress again this season.

“That brings us a lot of hope and a lot of excitement, especially with the young talent we have coming up from the 18U program in Bonivital,” said second-year catcher Jonah Norman.

“We have a lot of good talent that’s coming in and playing for us and we have a ton of excitement for it, and we just look forward to what this season brings and what we can do.”

Not all will be the same, however. A year older, this bunch is stronger, wiser and boasts plenty of confidence this time around.

“It’s good knowing a lot of the returning players, what they’re capable of, and they’ve shown it to themselves,” said Jason Evanochko, who enters his third season as manager for the Legionaires. “But it’s also a new season. There’s going to be some new players, not only on our team but other teams, as well, so it’s different dynamics and a whole different season.

“Last year is done and this is new.”

For the first time, the regular season will begin with all eight teams in action at St. James Optimist Field on Saturday. Each team will play two contests in the full-day affair, beginning with the Legionaires and the Elmwood Giants at 10 a.m.

The one-day event will serve as a beta test for a pre-season tournament in future years.

“I think the idea is great to showcase the teams and the league and to kick off the season,” said Evanochko. “I think the challenge for most of our teams is having all the players back from school. We start later than the 18U (leagues) just for the fact that our kids, for the most part, are away for school.

“It’s pretty tricky but it’s exciting at the same time.”

The Legionaires are one of the teams most affected by the post-secondary season, with 13 players away at college and university programs, and another three players from the Bonivital U18 18U AAA program still in school.

Teams are expected to have most of their players in-house by the end of the month.

The 2023 season brought a balance to the MJBL the league hadn’t seen in years. Evanochko expects that will remain the same, and that his team will need to win at the plate like they did last year in order to win games.

“I suspect we’ll need that again,” he said. “It’s very tough when bats aren’t as hot and you’re trying to scratch and claw for those one-run games. We didn’t have a lot of those type of games throughout the season so that’s the biggest challenge is making sure those are going, otherwise you’re relying on your pitching.”

It’s a different ballgame now that the Legionaires know they can win. With a year of championship experience under their belt comes heightened expectations, Norman said.

“For any team, the expectation is to win, but for us knowing what we can do, I think that is going to be a factor in our season. We want to win and we’re going to play to win and we’re going to do our best.”

The team’s schedule will get busier, too. As league champions, the Legionaires will head to the Baseball Canada 22U men’s championship in Dartmouth, N.S. in August. The Elmwood Giants have represented Manitoba for the last five years at the tournament.

“This season is not only going to be playing to win the title again in the MJBL,” Norman said. “That is a bit of a change in mindset but I think that’s a positive change and something that will motivate us.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam