A10

CanadaEast News Service

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BASEBALL — The Newcastle Cardinals have had lots of time to rest their wings. Now they are looking forward to flying again.

After nearly a three-week layoff after finishing first in the Miramichi Valley Baseball League A division, the Cardinals are ready to go.

The Cardinals were to face the Grand Falls Cataractes in the opening game Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at Cardinal Park. Game 2 is Tuesday in Grand Falls.

The Cataractes advanced to the final last night with a 3-1 victory over Caraquet Alpines in the seventh and deciding game of their semifinal series.

Grand Fallas scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to the victory.

Newcastle finished the season with a 16-5 record. The Cards were 2-2 against Grand Falls during the regular season.

Cardinals head coach Allan Menzies said he is expecting a long hard-fought final no matter who his team faces.

"There is a lot of parity between the clubs, but we have been working hard this past week both on our pitching and hitting to stay sharp after our long time on the sidelines. The one good thing is we'll be facing a battle-hardened opponent," he said.

"We have deep pitching, although they may not be as long in experience, but we certainly are improved over last year. We have Robbie Fleiger as a closer which we did not have last season. He had a tremendous season for us and we expect he'll see a lot of action in this series. And we have a better hitting club than last year, so we are looking forward to the finals."

Veteran Kris McKay (4-1, 0.00 earned run average) will start for Newcastle in the opening game.

The league's B division will see Tracadie/Sheila have home field advantage against Lameque in their best-of-seven final.