OTTAWA (May.10.2018) –

The U11 Jr. Ravens baseball team completed its first-ever league game on Wednesday night, defeating the Seaway Surge Mosquito team 9-3 in Merrickville. The game marks the culmination of months of effort by the Ravens baseball club and a group of parents, mainly from the Glebe and South Ottawa area to grow OBA baseball in the nation’s capital.

The team has been practicing since January and competed in a US indoor tournament last month.

Ravens baseball team President George Rigakos says the Jr. Ravens idea was something the team and the Athletics Department had been discussing for some time but it was not until this past winter that momentum began to build.

“It was really something that emerged naturally from our camps and my own involvement with Little League baseball” Rigakos said.

“Our players and coaches were already involved in youth baseball development and I thought this would be a great Summer employment opportunity for them and a way to develop our connections in the community.”

The Jr. Ravens Mosquito team is a pilot project in partnership with the Ottawa City Baseball Association (OCBA) whose President, like Rigakos, is also a Carleton University faculty member.

“We’re excited to work with Ravens Baseball” stated OCBA President Jeff Sahadeo. “Their winter and summer camps have been a huge success with young players in the region. This pilot partnership to create the mosquito Jr. Ravens is bringing quality OBA baseball to our region.”

The team is being coached by Ravens baseball hitter of the year Ryan Burnside with the help of infield alumnus and former Jason McKay Award recipient Eugenios Matos.

“The more the Ravens get involved the better it is for baseball in our area” notes parent Neil Malhotra “my son is getting a great baseball experience.”

That sentiment is shared by Marco Falsetti who adds “the Jr. Ravens have given my son the opportunity to play baseball the way it should be played.”

For his part, coach Burnside is excited about coaching the team: “It’s really cool to have an opportunity to teach young ball players and see them grow and enjoy the game.”

“The kids are having great fun while developing under coach Ryan” added Sahadeo and “we look forward to further cooperation in the future”.