Chatham-Kent Barnstormers begin with a blast (2024)

Seth Strong couldn’t help but take a moment to admire his historic homer.

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The Chatham-Kent Barnstormers designated hitter stood at home plate just a little longer than usual watching his blast clear the field house beyond the right-field fence Saturday at Fergie Jenkins Field at Rotary Park.

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“I had to take a peek at it,” he said. “I don’t like doing that, but I had to take a peek at that one.”

Strong’s solo shot – the first home run in Barnstormers history – broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning in their Intercounty Baseball League debut against the Kitchener Panthers.

“I honestly didn’t even feel it come off the bat,” said the Huber Heights, Ohio, native. “Once I knew that, I knew it was gone immediately.”

The Barnstormers built a 4-0 lead through six innings and held on for a 5-3 win in front of 896 fans.

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Starter Aden Ryan tossed five shutout innings to earn the first victory in franchise history. He struck out five and scattered four hits.

“It feels great,” Ryan said. “It was good to have the boys behind my back all day. It felt easy out there today. The crowd out there was amazing. It really got me excited to throw.”

The Tec*mseh native had never played for a crowd that size.

“I like to use it to my advantage on the field and get the energy,” he said. “I get more miles per hour on my fastball, I feel like. I love throwing it around a bunch of people. It’s very exciting.”

Catcher Greg Kemble delivered the Barnstormers’ historic first hit with a single in the bottom of the third. He grew up playing minor baseball for his hometown Chatham Diamonds.

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“It was amazing,” Kemble said. “The crowd was wonderful. What a great experience. From playing in Chatham all my life and then coming full circle, essentially, here – playing with guys from Chatham, too – it was insane. It was a great time.”

The Barnstormers roster also includes Tilbury’s Sam McKinlay and Chatham’s Garret Day, Brock Whitson, Jalen Butcher, Lee Kucera and Spencer Marcus.

Kemble, 35, is the Barnstormers’ oldest player. He spent the last six seasons with the Corunna Giants of the Western Counties Baseball Association.

“I was just happy to get my first IBL hit,” he said. “It’s nice. It’s a good opportunity. What a neat experience.

“I had a couple people there. It was nice to share it with them, share it with the family, parents. My dad, who coached me all growing up, it was nice to see him smiling and proud.”

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The pre-game festivities include a flyover by two biplanes. Kemble never saw that in his minor baseball days at Rotary Park.

“No, they didn’t have the budget for that,” he said with a laugh. “They tried, but the best we could get was somebody driving a clapped-out Civic down the road.”

Legendary hurler Fergie Jenkins returned to his namesake field to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. The Baseball Hall of Famer is the Barnstormers’ honorary team president.

Ryan hopes Jenkins, who now lives in Texas, will be back for more games.

“I did not get a chance to talk to him,” Ryan said. “I was warming up when he was free, so it wouldn’t have been right for me to go and get out of my warmup routine to go talk to him. Next time, hopefully I’ll get to talk to him.”

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STRONG EFFORT

Ryan is one of several Barnstormers in their first pro or semi-pro season.

Strong, on the other hand, arrived in Chatham after playing in the Pecos, Pioneer and United Shore leagues. The 27-year-old slugger has been on teams in Michigan, California, Idaho, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado.

“My goal in life is to play major league baseball,” he said. “The age that I’m at, the odds are very much against me, but if I can just get somebody to see me and get that opportunity, I know I wouldn’t let anyone down.

“These guys here are so trusting of me to do what I can do on the field. I know that they will help me pursue my dreams as much as humanly possible.”

His job offer from the Barnstormers came out of the blue.

“I was just sitting on my couch and I got a call from (bench coach) Don Menard,” Strong said. “He was like, ‘Hey, I’ve seen your stats. I think you could be a really good fit here.’

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“I was kind of wavering on the fence to come up here, but when he was telling me about the competition and what they’re expecting of me and what they’re expecting me to do and move on from this step in my life, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I’m glad that I took this chance.”

SILLETT DELIVERS

Trent Sillett and Miles Norman hit RBI singles in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, for a 3-0 lead.

Strong led off the sixth with a triple and scored on Sillett’s second RBI single to go up 4-0.

“I wasn’t planning on coming out here and doing what I did today,” Strong said. “I was just coming out here to work hard and to really try to help my team out as much as possible.

“Did I get lucky with getting a pitch up in the zone and taking it over the hitting facility? Absolutely. But I also take a lot of pride and effort into developing my skills as best as I can to make sure that it’s not a fluke.”

After the Panthers scored twice in the top of the seventh off Whitson, Marcus belted a solo homer in the bottom half.

Catalin Morin tossed a scoreless eighth, then Robert Mackie picked up the save despite allowing a run in the ninth.

Although Strong was impressed with his historic homer, he didn’t want to get too excited.

“It’s cool to have that mark, that little asterisk next to my name for first Barnstormer home run, first run,” he said. “I think it’s great, but in the long run it’s what I can do for this team over the course of the time that I’m here that really matters.”

mmalone@postmedia.com

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