Jackfish trump Cards on School Day
Welland Stadium was turned into the world’s largest classroom Tuesday.
The Welland Jackfish held their first School Day with 2,241 students, teachers and support staff from the District School Board of Niagara, Niagara Catholic District School Board, French Catholic and French public school boards cheering on the home side.
The Jackfish sent their fans home happy, cruising to a 9-2 win over the Hamilton Cardinals in IBL exhibition play. The Jackfish travel to Hamilton Thursday for another School Day promotion.
“Every other minor league team in North American does it,” Jackfish president Ryan Harrison said before the festivities got under way. “It’s something everybody does, it’s just something we haven’t had the opportunity to do because trying to get a team to play at 11 a.m. is not always the easiest thing to do. Nice that Hamilton allowed us to do it and we reciprocated by going there Thursday.”
Harrison feels the promotion is a good way to help promote the game and foster interest in the Jackfish.
“We haven’t even played the game yet and all the past week students were coming with their parents to buy merchandise for the game,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll enjoy the show and want to come back with their parents.”
Franco Niagara teacher and long time local baseball coach and player Jay Falardeau loved the concept.
“It’s great. A lot of the kids aren’t traditional athletes or haven’t played a lot of sports and (it’s great) just to expose them to something different. The Jackfish have done such a great job marketing and branding the team in the community, it’s great for the kids,” he said.
Franco Niagara had about 60 students from Grades 5-8 in attendance.
“We talked to them a little bit and one of our teachers billets players so that’s been a great experience and he’s been able to relate that to them so they have an idea what to expect,” Falardeau said. “I’ve heard kids talk and for some of them, it’s their first real baseball game.”
Jackfish catcher and Welland native Ryan Potrecz led the way going 3-for-4 with two runs batted in.
The Jackfish return to The Pond on Saturday, May 18 at 6:05 p.m. for their 2024 IBL home opener. Single tickets and flex packs are available at https://www.wellandjackfish.com/tix or by calling 905-735-9834.
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