If they're allowed to do so, the Intercounty Baseball League plans on kicking off its 102nd season on June 3.
Three games will be played that night, including the Guelph Royals at Welland.
Each team will again play a 36-game schedule. Weekends comprise a large majority of the schedule as 70 per cent of the games will be played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (101 of the 144 games), says the league.
The Royals first home game would be on Saturday, June 5, against the Kitchener Panthers at Hastings Stadium at 1 p.m.
Guelph will play three home Saturday afternoon games, nine Saturday night home games and five Tuesday night games.
They will also host Welland on Canada Day, Thursday, July 1, in a 1 p.m. start.
The Royals wrap up the regular season on Aug. 22 in Toronto.
“We are hopeful that the IBL has baseball in 2021 and we are releasing a modified schedule based on a June 1 start date,” said IBL Commissioner John Kastner in a news release.
“This is of course tentative and based on a myriad of factors outside of our control including vaccine availability, mass immunization rollout, and, most importantly, restrictions and allowances based on the province’s emergency orders.”
The IBL is the fifth longest continually operated baseball league in the world and serves as a valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff. More than 40 IBL players have advanced to Major League Baseball or returned to the IBL following their MLB careers.
The league is comprised of teams from Barrie, Brantford, Kitchener, London, Toronto, Guelph, Welland and Hamilton. For more information, visit www.theibl.ca.
