Chatham was selected in November 2024 to host the 2026 national tournament. As the host community, Chatham has an automatic berth in the event. The NBSBL will also have a second representative, to be determined through league playoffs this year.
“We have a terrific league. The competition level is very high, as is the playing level. I can’t imagine there is a more competitive league in the country,” said league president Tom O’Reilly, an executive member since 2013.
“Our league is what we play for. Going to the nationals will be the icing on the cake. To have the bragging rights as league champion, that’s the deal.”
The five-team loop, which includes the Moncton Mets, the Ironmen, Fredericton Royals, Saint John Alpines, and the Charlottetown Islanders, will play a 28-game schedule this season.
Moncton head coach Darrell Christie says he’s optimistic heading into the opening weekend. Moncton will once again rely on the steady bats of Luc Vautour, who batted .400 last season, and Justin Cormier, a .321 hitter in 2024. Also returning is all-star slugger Serge Vautour, who belted six home runs during the Mets’ run to the league final.
The team also added some depth with two players from Ontario: corner infielder Justin Breau and right-handed pitcher Brandon Hillier.
“It’s great to see quality guys show up out of nowhere who are able to step in and play right away. This will definitely help us with our depth and make a difference on the field,” said Christie, whose team tied for second place last year with a 15-13 regular season record.
That depth includes import Nathan Van Putten, a right-handed starting pitcher who can also play some outfield.
Moncton begins the season Sunday, when it hosts the Alpines at 4 p.m. at Kiwanis Park.
Saint John Alpines shortstop Adam Clark takes some cuts off the tee during indoor practice at the Irving Oil Field House. Photo by RANDY O'DONNELL/BRUNSWICK NEWS
Alpines head coach, Trevor Beach, says he looks forward to having a healthy pitching staff this season, led by veterans Sherman Yeo, Nathan Betts and Matt Nason.
“We had a lot of injuries last season, which caused us to stretch our pitching staff longer than we would have liked. And as that continues, you get in trouble late in games,” said Beach, whose team finished 9-19 during the regular season before bowing out to Fredericton in the playoffs.
“But the positive side to that, we had to rely on our junior pitchers. So as an organization, we are going to be that much better going forward.”
Producing runs was not a problem for the 2024 Alpines, who scored 158 runs over the 28-game regular season, second only to Moncton’s 166 runs scored. This year, the team will rely on the one-two combination of leadoff hitter Adam Clark and Conner Hill, who will be in his first year as a full-time senior player, after bouncing between the junior and senior Alpines in 2024.
Clark, who plays shortstop, was a top-10 hitter last season with a .365 batting average, fourth highest in the senior league.
Hill was second in the league at .405 in 26 games. Beach plans to pencil his second baseman into the number two slot in the batting order.
“Pitchers in the senior league are smarter, and that means you have to think more about your approach at the plate, understand counts and situations. So I have to keep on top of that,” Hill said.
Alpines president Terre Hunter said the team has been in contact with a prospective import. Hunter said the import, whom he declined to name, should join the team in June.
After opening their regular season on the road Sunday versus Moncton, the Alpines open their home schedule on Monday, when they host Fredericton at Memorial Field in a 2 p.m. start.
Royals president Jody Peterson said the capital squad is a good mix of veteran and young talent.
“When you’re looking at veteran leadership, it begins with Adam Estey. He’s definitely a leader we are building around,” Peterson said of Estey, who led the league with nine home runs and 18 stolen bases, while batting .360.
On the mound, the team will also lean on Colby Lyle, who logged 39.2 innings last season for the Royals. The Royals finished 14-14 in the regular season before losing to Charlottetown in the second round of the playoffs.
Fredericton is still considering adding an import player to the roster for co-coaches Kevin McCarthy and Mark McNevin. However, Peterson is quick to point out that bringing in local product Max Grant affords the team the luxury of extending its search for the right import into the regular season.
“I don’t think it’s lost on anybody that we probably brought in the best young player in the league. You’re not going to find a better import in North America than the one we brought in all the way from Devon, right here in Fredericton,” said Peterson. 
The Fredericton Royals will be counting on veteran pitcher Colby Lyle as they begin their 2024 New Brunswick Senior Baseball League season. Photo by ELLEN TRAMLEY SEYMOUR
Grant, who played infield collegiately in the U.S. at Alabama and Canisius between 2021-24, played five games with the Royals last season. He banged out six hits in 13 at-bats, including one homer.
In Chatham, head coach Kevin Bowes says the Ironmen also have a blend of senior leadership and youth.
That youth includes right-handed pitcher Gehrig Hale, who will also play some infield this season, and Logan Walsh, a corner infielder who can also play outfield.
Walsh had 11 hits in 31 at-bats last season as an affiliate with the senior Ironmen, who finished 15-13 in the regular season. He also banged out three home runs.
Hale hit .350 as a junior last year while striking out 40 hitters in 30 innings.
“We’re looking forward to getting things going,” said Bowes, who added that the club will rely on returnees such as Dylan Lester, Kris Keating, Jeff Watkin, and Mike McKay to provide veteran leadership.
“The league is so competitive, and I think every team is where they were or maybe a touch better than last year. The playoffs were a battle in every series, and I expect this year will be no different.”
The Ironmen, who lost to Moncton in the second round of the playoffs, have added an import starting pitcher, Julio Hernandez, who arrived in Chatham this week after three seasons of professional ball in Mexico.
“It’s always quite a search. You reach out to contacts. I had a person reach out to me to say they had a player from Mexico who was interested in playing and travelling, so we looked him up and here we are,” said Bowes, who expects Hernandez to be in the lineup when the Ironmen begin their season on the road in Charlottetown with a doubleheader Saturday.
In Charlottetown, the two-time defending league champion Islanders are returning most of their lineup this season, says head coach Doug Hines.
The Islanders finished the 2024 regular season at 17-11, before downing Moncton in six games to capture their second straight league crown.
“We feel pretty good about our team. It’s a tough, competitive league. It’s pretty hard to win this league two times in a row, let alone three, so we’re confident, but we take that with everything that comes with it. We’re definitely not overconfident,” Hines said when asked about the possibility of a three-peat.
“The only prediction you’ll get from me is that we’ll work hard.”
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