About The Team

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After having played in the MMBL for  11 years, 8 of which involved running his own team, Marco Serra took over the day to day operations of running the Yankees of the BVB at the request of Joe Rizzi and Steve Ascah.  And with that, the BVB Blue Jays were born.

Year 1 was pretty much a fact finding season. Early on, starting 1-3 seemed like an anomoly as there were moments in all 4 of those games that the Jays could have pulled out a win.  There were 2 games lost by a single run, a 4 run loss and a 4 run win. All positives.  Unfortunately that was as good as it got for the team in that first season as the team would go 3-16-1 over the remaining games in the schedule suffering some lopsided losses and going 0-7-1 to end the year, finishing with a record of 4-19-1. 

Changes were clearly needed heading into Year 2.

Several players did not return to the team for Year 2 and we thank them for their contributions including; 

• Dave Castro 
• Gary DeSouza 
• Mike Viles 
• Mike Reimann

Year 2 started off in a similar fashion  as the team  started 2-7. However, that was when things began to change. Despite a couple of lopsided losses to the Hobos and Mudhens back to back, the Jays put up a respectable 4-4-1 record the rest of the way including wins over both the Cards and Hobos in their return match, the Cards, Cubs and the first team Season Sweep of the A's.

We made several additions to the team for 2015 including;

• Mark Wolfendale (Braves) 
• Dave Wolfendale 
• Adriano Vega (MMBL Blue Jays) 
• Cory Saumure 
• Matt Conroy (Brewers) 
• Greg McEachern (MMBL) 
• Richard Heary (Mudhens)
• Mike Nardelli

Several players did not return to the team for Year 3 and we thank them for their contributions including; 

• Richard Heary (Mudhens) 
• Greg McEachern (MMBL) 
• Stephen Carlson (MMBL) 
• Cory Saumure 
• Adriano Vega

The momentum that was apparent to end Year 2, seemed to  carry over as the team started 3-4 in their first 7 games. That was the high point for the season as the team would finish on a 14 game losing streak, longest in Franchise history which included 7 losses by 4 runs or less. Even with the way the team ended, there was hope that this would be the turning point for the team to start progressing. The Team finished with their worst record ever at 3-18.

We made several additions to the team for 2016 including;

• Chris Errington
• Justin Loncaric 
• Zac Nunez 
• John McNeil (Braves) 
• Ryan Vella 
• Glenn Edwards 
• Lou Vasso 
• Zak Lalonde (Braves) 
• Jay Rein

Several players did not return to the team for Year 4 and we thank them for their contributions including; 

• Joe Rizzi  
• Joe Stevens 
• Steve Ascah 
• Mike Nardelli 
• Lou Vasso 
• Zak Lalonde (Braves)

Year 4 started off with the teams' first ever 4 game win streak as the team jumped out of the gate with wins over the Cards, expansion Red Sox, A's and Mudhens. Injuries, work schedules and other issues started to cost players games and the team would limp throughout the rest of the schedule going 1-14-1 the rest of the way. 

We made several additions to the team for 2017 including;

• Greg McEachern 
• Mike Villa 
• Justin Van 
• Paolo Del Rio 
• Dan Butterfield

Several players did not return to the team for Year 5 and we thank them for their contributions including; 

• Matt Conroy 
• Greg McEachern 
• Glenn Edwards 
• Jay Rein 
• Justin Van 
• Dan Butterfield

After a n uneven start going 2-2-1,  the team suffered losses in 3 straight games (10-9 to the Red Sox, 8 to 5 to the Cubs and 8-6 to the Brewers) which sent the team spiraling.  In all, the team would lose 9 games by 3 runs or less and finish the season 4-14-3. In the Playoffs, the Jays  jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Brewers in their best of 5 series. We were leading 6-2 in Game 3 before things started to unravel. The Brewers would rally to a 10-6 lead and then win the next 2 games 18-1 and 13-3. The Brewers would then move on by winning the next round before losing in the Finals.

We made several additions to the team for 2018 including;

• Adriano Vega 
• Steve Ascah
• Juan Carlos Gutierrez 
• Brad O'Brien 
• Al Fochuk 
• Paul Niejadlik 
• Jognie Perez 
• Miso Radman

Several players did not return to the team for Year 6 and we thank them for their contributions including; 

• Al Fochuk 
• Paul Niejadlik 
• Jognie Perez 
• Miso Radman 
• Ryan Vella

With the way the weather was acting up early on (our first 4 games were rained out), it would have been easy to say that our slow start was a direct result of that, and it may well have played a role in it as the team started off 0-6-1. Despite this start, the team would go 6-6-2 the rest of the way with 4 of those losses by 3 runs or less finishing the season 6-12-3. In the Consolation Playoffs, we were up 7-6 going into the top of the 7th of Game #1 before the Cubs rallied with 2 runs to take the lead. 

Despite having the bases loaded with 1 out, the team would fail to get any runs in losing 8-7. Game 2 saw a turnaround as the Cubs were up 4-0 by the 3rd inning before the Jays rallied to tie it in the 4th and then go ahead with runs in the 5th, 6th and 7th. The team would then close out the 7th for a 7-4 win to force Game 3. The third game was completely one-sided as the Cubs came out strong early on and rolled to a 10-0 win.

We made several additions to the team for 2019 including;

• Steve Carlson 
• Richard Paige 
• Brad Mifsud,

Several players did not return to the team for Year 7 and we thank them for their contributions including; 

• Steve Carlson
• John McNeil

As we all know, COVID hit in March of 2020. This obviously put into serious doubt whether we would have a season at all. With some back and forth with the city and some additional protocols put into place at the request of the City of Burlington, we were able to start a shortened season in July. We were only able to play an 8 game season. With yet more turnover to our roster, we welcomed several new players onto the team and as a result had our first .500 season finishing 4-4. Even with that record, we lost 3 games by 4 runs or less.

While all of these things were going on around the team, changes were afoot within the team as well as Chris Errington and Justin Loncaric were added to the Coaching staff.

With that shortened season,  a different format was drawn up as only 5 teams played in that shortened season. In the 1 game Wild Card we played against the Cubs, Doug Eley pitched a complete game 6 hit, 1 run (unearned)  gem in a 7-1 win. We then advanced to play the Cards in the Best 2 out of 3 Semis. Game 1 was a hard fought battle going back and forth before the Cards put up 2 in the 5th and 2 more in the 6th to pull away in a 7-3 Cards win. Game 2 was all Cards as they put up 6 runs in each of the first 2 innings. Despite fighting back and putting up 5 runs, the 7 run deficit early on was too great and the Cards would tack on 3 more runs to win the game 15-5 and series.

We made several additions to the team for 2020 including;

• Ryan Vella 
• Klint Ginn
• Doug Eley 
• Yuniel Perez Rodriguez 
• Jeremy Maxwell
• Juan C Herrera 
• Rick Andrade

Several players did not return to the team for Year 8 and we thank them for their contributions including; 

• Adriano Vega
• Dave Oelke 
• Jeremy Maxwell

 We had a longtime member of the team  move on to greener pastures as Adbel Rodriguez moved to Tampa Bay, Florida after the  conclusion of the shortened 2020 season. A-Rod had been a 

After a positive 2020 shortened season and  a good start to the slightly shortened 2021 Season starting off 2-1-1, the team would lose the next 10 straight games finishing the year . In those 10 straight losses, we would go on to lose 3 games by 2 runs or less finishing the year 2-11-1. 

As the league was back up to 6 teams, we played the Cubs again in the Consolation Final losing the first game 8-7 in a tightly fought contest. We were unable to field enough players to play in Game #2 of the series losing 7-0 by Forfeit. Things were not looking good heading into 2022.

We made several additions to the team for 2021 including;

• Nick Podetz 
• Pierre Poitras 
• Jimmy Harwick
• Terry Arges

Several players did not return to the team for Year 9 and we thank them for their contributions including; 

• Terry Alderson 
• Nick Podetz
• Pierre  Poitras 
• Jimmy Harwick 
• Ryan Vella 
• Yuniel Perez Rodriguez 
• Adbel Rodriguez

In the off-season, (as with every year) more changes were done to the structure of the team as well as the roster. Added to the Management team was Klint Ginn while Terry Alderson, Assistant Coach since 2017, was not asked to return. We want to once again thank Terry for all his contributions to the team over the years as he had been with the Jays since their inaugural season and helped many of his teammates grow and improve over the years.

The 2022 team once again got off to a very slow start as the team was 2-1 through the first 12 games before the team started to turn things around. Despite the record, the team again lost a number of close games (4 games by 2 runs or less and one badly timed Forfeit game against the Ducks). The team finished 5th in a 6 team league with a record of 5-15 and once again were pitted against the Cubs in the Consolation Playoffs.

Game #1 was the first game of the  season played at a park other then Nelson (Cosgrove) as Millcroft was used due to the City closing Nelson due to rain that had fallen over 9 hours before (The field was perfectly playable). Nonetheless, the Jays came out strong with 5 runs in the first and rolled to a 15-7 win.

Game #2 started the same as the Jays jumped out to an 8-0 lead after 2 but the cubs started chipping away with 2 in the 3rd, 2 more in the 4th, and then  6 in the bottom of the 6th while our bats went cold. They were able to close out the Top of the 7th as we were just shell shocked.

Heading into Game #3 was not going to turnout the same way as once again the Jays jumped out to an 8-0 lead after 3. Instead of taking the foot of the pedal, the Jays kept up the pressure, stealing bases, taking the extra base and generally being aggressive in order to ensure a series win...and it worked. The Jays were victorious 11-1 in 6 innings. 

2022 marked the 2nd time in Franchise history that the team won 7 games in a season and with a solid core now in place with some potential additions coming in the off-season, 2023 looks to finally be the year the team turns the corner and becomes a true contender.

We made several additions to the team for 2022 including;

• Clark Martin 
• Brad Sinclair 
• Alex Boisseau 
• Jumoke Johnson 
• Chuck Erman
• Geoff Loewen

What was 2023 going to look like? Was there any chance of the latest version of the Blue Jays making noise in a league where the top teams seem to win year over year? What would the team look like with very little off-season workouts completed? All valid questions that had yet to be answered after another sub .500 season in 2022. 

The one thing about the end of last season was that it seemed as if the team turned a corner near the end of the year. Sometimes you have to lose (and lose a lot) before you learn how to win. Lessons learned in losses and the bonds made by the guys on your team translate to future wins, or so the saying goes.

Well, the 2023 season started off rather poorly, almost as if no one really had learned anything from the year before. A 1-4 record after the first 5 games of a 15 game season had left us reeling a bit but hope was there, even in the losses as they mounted. 

Only 1 of those loses was a true "blow out". Our first game of the year was a narrow 4-1 defeat to the defending Champion Reds which very easily could have gone the other way but for the lack of a couple of clutch hits. Our first win saw the first of what would turn out to be 7 double digit run scoring games (a team record no less)  and the start of a run of 5 wins in 6 games to catapult the team into 3rd place overall. 

Season series sweeps of the Ducks and Cubs along with winning 2 of 3 against the Mudhens secured our spot in the Top Tier Playoffs and, after a July 30th win over the Cubs, we were locked in to 3rd overall. 

While our record against the Cards and Reds was still 0-6, (Outscored 26-6 against the Reds and 26-9 against the Cards), we were only truly beaten in one of those 6 games and hung around fighting in the other 5 right up to the end.

As the playoffs began, there was an ever growing sense of confidence, even a swagger that the team was starting to exhibit and feel through the latter parts of the season. It was palpable and it felt like we were going to win heading into each and every game. It was as if the guys, who have never been closer as a team in general, were all finally pulling on the rope in the same direction. As if we have finally figured out who we are as a team and how to really win. We knew we had a monumental challenge ahead of us but we were ready and raring to go.

Playoffs 2023

Our first game of the playoffs was scheduled for Sunday August 20th, but even 2 days beforehand, we were still unsure of who we would end up playing as rain, which had caused havoc all summer long (what else was new for 2023), had caused the final regular season game between the Ducks and Cardinals to be postponed twice, had pushed this vital game to August 18th, the third different scheduled date for this game.

We were locked in 3rd place but if the Cardinals lost, they would fall to 2nd and face us. If they won, they would secure first and we would face the Reds instead. The good thing about August 18th was that many of us would end up finding out the news of who our opponent would end up being together as we were having a team get together at Matty Carmichael's place that evening. When the news came down, that the Cardinals had thumped the Ducks, it became clear that we were a feared team. Neither the Reds nor the Cardinals wanted to play us in the first round.

Reds vs. Blue Jays - Semi Final Series Re-Cap - Game #1 - August 20th:

We carried that emotion and momentum right into the first inning of Game #1 as we surged out to a 4-0 lead off of Jeff Mueller of the Reds. It could have been more but for some questionable base running which cost us possibly a couple of runs and could have  changed the complexion of the 1st inning entirely. Instead of  having 4 runs in and runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, we had a runner caught stealing 3rd and 2 away with a runner still at 1st base, keeping their pitcher in the game.

We held that lead for the first 4 innings as Doug came out strong again for us on the mound. We added to it making the score 5-0 before the Reds finally responded but their response was muted by the fact their MVP, Brandon McDonald, was ejected in the 4th inning. He had already been gunned down at 3rd base in the bottom of the 1st to end the inning trying to steal 3rd when he was caught stealing again trying to take 2nd base in the 3rd inning (ending that inning as well).  

He argued the call, kept arguing, threw in a few choice words and was ejected for it. An ejection from a game in our league carries with it an automatic 2 game suspension, even in the playoffs so this was a massive error on his part.  On top of that,  when his place in the batting order (Leadoff) was scheduled to come up next, he was going to be an automatic out so we had that working in our favour as well. He ended up hurting his team immeasurably in this game as it turned out.

Up 5-0, the Reds scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the 6th off of Doug who, despite having a couple of very quick innings (one 4 pitch inning in the 4th and a 6 pitch inning in the 5th), was starting to tire. After both runs scored with one out,  the last batter in their order came up with 2 runners on and promptly popped out to Clark at short (Who had a great game defensively). With the lead off spot coming next and that being Brandon's spot, the inning ended and so did their rally.

We were able to add on a massive 6th run in the top of the 7th inning and boy did we end up needing it as the Reds were not done yet. Doug got the leadoff hitter to start the bottom half of the 7th but after a double and a broken bat single made it 6-3, we decided it was the end of the line for Doug and brought in Klint to close it out.

After a wild pitch and a walk, a questionable ground ball up the first baseline (Which Chris swears was foul, called fair), drove in 2 runs to narrow the lead to 6 to 5. Another walk and a double steal put the tying and winning runs on 2nd and 3rd. Klint battled back from a 2-0 count to get a weak pop up in foul territory to JC at 3rd for the 2nd out.  Then, on a 2-1 pitch, a liner was hit out to short which Clarkie nabbed to end the game.

A thrilling Game 1 in the books. 

Game #2 - August 27th

Up one game, we wanted nothing more then to come out and get a strangle hold on the series in Game #2. Unfortunately, that did not happen as the Reds got out in front early and coasted to a big win. Despite losing 11-1, we really hurt ourselves with poor fielding and really bad baserunning as we ran ourselves out of 2 innings and cost ourselves 3 runs in the process.

The only saving grace was that we had Game #3 coming up only 2 days later. It was a quick turnaround but that was really a blessing in disguise.

Game #3 - August 29th

We started off strong in Game #3, hitting around one of their top pitchers (Penrose) for 6 runs over the first 3 innings and chasing him from the game.  Mark Wolfendale was dominant on the mound and after 4 shut out innings, we decided it was time to bring in Miguel in an attempt to end it in the 5th as we were up 11-0 at that point.  The Reds had other ideas as they put up 4 runs on Miggy before we were finally able to get an out (after replacing him with Klint). Each team exchanged runs in the 6th but with 2 out in the bottom of the 6th and the score 14-7, the game ended as a result of time reverting the score back to 11-4 at the end of the 5th.

Everyone contributed and we finally seemed to have gained the valuable momentum heading into the first elimination game of the Series. Game #4 would be a week away and give everyone a chance to re-group and get ready for a huge game.

Game #4 - Sept 5th

With the Reds turning to their Game #2 starter, we decided to give the ball to Mark again hoping he could replicate his Game #3 start. Unfortunately, that was not to be as the Reds came out strong and chased him in the 2nd inning after putting up 6 total runs. Miguel came in and was able to calm the waters for the time being but we were absolutely stymied by Dillon again for 5 innings, only managing a walk and a ROE without having anyone even pass 2nd base. 

The final score got way out of hand as both teams realized early on that the game was done and the focus was turning to Game #5

Game #5 - Sept 8th

It was just not meant to be. Game 5 started with a line drive by Rick into the CF-LF gap on the first pitch only to have Jeff Mueller come flying in to make a crazy grab for the first out. That was followed by a high chopper up the middle by Chris that would have been an infield hit at any other time against just about any other team except tonight as their Short Stop Brandon bare-handed it and gunned out Chris at first by a step. Ig that wasn't enough, he would make yet another great play on Clark to end the first inning with 3 web gems preventing us from getting off to the kind of start we really needed.

Klint pitched his heart out but some subtle mistakes ended up costing us in the 2nd and 4th innings as the Reds took a 2 run lead in the 2nd and added to it in the 4th with another 3 runs (1 earned). In total, Klint pitched all 6 innings and gave up 7 runs (4 earned) and had we been able to give him any offence to back his pitching, we would have had a fighting chance. Unfortunately, we were only able to put up a total of 5 hits and had several other defensive gems that killed any and all of our offensive attack throughout the night.

We put up a great fight all year long and had the Reds right where we wanted them but we were just unable to do anything when it counted the most.

We had a great season and finished with a 10-10 record overall. Finally it appears as though we have turned the corner and have the core group of players we need to push ourselves into the upper tier of teams in the league.

We made several additions to the team for 2023 including;

• Zack Nunez (returned to the team)
• John McNeil (returned to the team)
• Terry Arges (returned to the team)
• Doug Eley (returned to the team)
• Mark Wolfendale (Back Fulltime from injury) 
• Joe Seyler
• Eric Medeiros
• Juan Adames
• Miguel Los Santos
• JJ Ventura
• Gabriel Frometa

We said goodbye to  several teammates who did not return for 2023 including;

• Alex Boisseau - Injured all season 
• Jumoke Johnson 
• Chuck Erman
• Brad Mifsud
• Greg Froese

The off-season saw far more change then we had expected as 2 members of our Management Team left. Chris ended up not playing at all as his son is starting to play high end baseball himself and Klint agreed to help out the Mudhens who, he was told, were in need of players, asked him to help them out this season and he agreed. Doug was supposed to play with them as well but 2 games into the year and Doug decided against it as they seemed to have 18 guys coming out on a regular basis and returned to help us out as much as he could instead.

So with those changes underway, Justin and I added our "unofficial" recruiter, Zac Nunez, to be part of the coaching staff of the team for 2024 in an official capacity. 

The season actually started off well for us as after the Reds forfeited their first game of the year against us, we faced the Mudhens in our first actual game of the year and won handily. Despite a good 2-0 start, the lack of solid pitching over the next 11 games started us on a downward spiral. We were outscored 123-41 in those 11 straight losses and it wasn't until we played the Cubs for the third time on the season (and beat them 10-2) that we finally seemed to find out footing.

We would end up going 4-3 over our final 7 games of the season catching the Cubs for 4th. Most of that had to do specifically with the pitching of Emerik who would go on tp pitch 5 straight complete games for us out of our last 6 games (including the 4-3 Wild Card Game Loss).

Despite enduring a difficult 11 game losing streak, this team was close-knit and fought hard in every game. We had some peaks and valleys  during the season but despite what some would see as a season where we took a step back, we seem set to take 2 steps forward in 2025.

We made several additions to the team for 2024 including;

• Clark Aubert
• Cesar  Castillo
• Jesus Racinos Jr.
• Emerik Kriz
• Rafael Santiago
• Kevin Lamanse
• Patrick Buscar

We had a couple of guys who moved on or were unable to play in 2024 as well including;

• Chris Errington (Bubba's Hectic Baseball Schedule)
• Klint Ginn (Mudhens)
• Matty Carmichael  (Bad Back)
• Mark Wolfendale (Injured)
• Alex Boisseau (Health)