Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

FREDERICTON - The Fredericton Royals will be at full strength tonight when they face the Saint John Alpines at home, pending the appeals of two suspended players.

The Royals have appealed the suspensions of Jeremy Turgeon and Andrew McNeill to Baseball New Brunswick, citing "an inaccurate description of the events" that took place in Summerside, P.E.I., last Saturday, said Royals' head coach Steve Hicks.

The New Brunswick Senior Baseball League executive, consisting of president Brian Richard, and vice-presidents Art Gremley and Bev Bawn, issued the penalties Monday night after umpires suspended the second game of the doubleheader between the hometown Summerside Hemphill Chevys and the Royals.

Turgeon was suspended for three games and McNeill for a pair. Summerside's Justin Grady was also suspended two games for his role in bench-clearing incident. In the bottom of the third, Fredericton pitcher Jake Waugh missed with a pitch inside and sent Summerside hitter Nial Hughes scrambling to avoid being hit. When Martin hit Turgeon with the first pitch in the top of the fourth inning, tempers flared further. Umpires decided then to suspend the contest.

But the game will be played only if it has a bearing on the final standings - not a likely scenario given that the Royals lead the league with a 17-4 mark and the Chevys are at the other end of the spectrum, with a 3-18 mark.

Both players are eligible to play pending the result of the appeal.

"I guess now it's in David Watling's hands as president of Baseball New Brunswick," said Richard, who said the rulings of the committee were based on the umpire's report.

"Both teams had different opinions of what did happen," Richard said. "The umpire has his version. And we go by what the umpire says. The umpires are the neutral people in it, and that's what we go by. We make all our decisions based on umpires reports."

Richard said he had heard no previous complaints about the calibre of umpiring on the Island.

"I don't have any concerns," he said. "The other teams may have an opinion. I never did ask. But I will be asking at our annual meeting. They're all baseball umpires and they're all registered with Baseball PEI. I have no reason to believe they wouldn't be competent."

The Royals are back on the diamond tonight, hosting the Saint John Alpines in a 7:30 p.m. start at Royals Field.