Muskrats home opener is Friday, team expects to make some new fans

LACONIA — The Winnipesaukee Muskrats opened their season on Wednesday night with a 9-3 win over the North Adams Steeplecats, making a point that Coach Ariel Ramos said they intend to repeat all season.

“The identity of our team, our stated mission, is proving that we need to be here,” Ramos said, while on the team bus headed to North Adams, Massachusetts, on Wednesday afternoon. “The coaching staff, administration and the players, it’s owning up to this opportunity we have and making the best of it.”

The Muskrats have been Laconia’s team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, a summer league for elite college players looking to attract major league attention, since 2009. While some of those Muskrat teams have turned in impressive records, the one area that the team hasn’t been able to excel in yet is attendance. In 2019, the last season unaffected by the pandemic, Winnipesaukee’s average attendance was around 300, second to last in the league and about a tenth of the best-attended team in the league.

Those who make their way to Robbie Mills Field to catch a Muskrats game – their home opener is Friday, June 10, with a 6 p.m. start against the Vermont Mountaineers – should be rewarded with an affordable, fun night out, said Ramos. Tickets are $5 for adults, $2 for senior citizens and youth, while young children and active military are welcome to come for free.

Ramos said that fans should expect to get a chance to interact with the team.

“The big thing we’re striving for this year, on field and off the field, is looking to build relationships with the community,” Ramos said.

This is Ramos’ first year as head coach and manager of the Muskrats. He said it’s been an active offseason for the team, as about a dozen of the players they had originally rostered had to be scratched due to school transfers or other eligibility concerns.

“We’ve been really fortunate in finding really good replacements,” Ramos said.

The resulting roster should be one that will be fun to manage — and to watch. The team will feature what Ramos called a “hybrid offense,” in that his players have the skills and speed to play “small ball,” moving runners from first base into scoring position through bunts, base stealing and hit-and-run plays, and then can bring hitters to the plate to bring those runners home.

“We’ve got a ton of power guys all through our offense, but we also have guys who are really fast on base,” Ramos said.

The win against North Adams proved his point. Muskrat hitters were selective, earning 11 walks which they combined with seven hits for their nine runs. The offense was led by Jacob Corson, who plays both infield and outfield and who attends Bucknell University. He went two-for-three, including triple, and collected two RBIs.

Defensively, the roster is similarly flexible. Several players can, and will, field many different positions, giving the coaching staff the ability to present different looks for both fans and opposing teams.

“It’s going to be fun, we’re going to move guys around, we’ve got a ton of guys who are utility guys, they can play middle infield, they can play outfield, they’ll be able to show that,” Ramos said.

There are a few New Hampshire players on the roster, including Laconia High alumnus Ryan Dee. Ramos said Dee, a right-handed pitcher, will start as a reliever and could earn a start by the end of the summer.

“We call him ‘Townie,’” Ramos said. “I’m going to be interested in seeing what he can offer us.” Dee is aggressive in his approach, landing most of his pitches in the strike zone, and has what his coach called “a ton of movement.” He delivers his pitches from a low arm slot which, combined with his pitch movement, could surprise batters when the ball strikes in the narrow part of the bat instead of the sweet spot.

“That’s good, especially playing in a wooden bat league. We’ll make sure we get some ‘jammies,’ blow up some bats,” Ramos said. “We’re really excited as a coaching staff and as a roster to get this show on the road.”