April 21, 2005

By Mike Mattson

Muskegon Chronicle staff writer

There won't be any Muskegon ChannelCats on the baseball diamond this season.

Len Piasecki, who launched the high-level Connie Mack travel baseball team in 1998, said the ChannelCats will not field a team this summer.

Last September, Spring Lake's Line Drives Training Facility and the ChannelCats announced they were joining forces to develop players and travel teams. But Piasecki said details surrounding the merger could not be worked out.

"It's disappointing for me,'' said Piasecki, who announced his decision to pull the plug on the ChannelCats in early March. "We were looking to partner up with Line Drives. It just wasn't the right fit for Line Drives or us to partner up and sponsor the teams.''

In the past, the ChannelCats and Line Drives fielded separate travel teams and competed for the same players. Now, Line Drives is set to go it alone and field four travel teams (13U, 14U, 16U and 18U).

"Rather than be in competition for the best talent in the area and spread the teams thin, we decided to forego having a season this year with our travel teams,'' Piasecki said. "If we couldn't get some of the top-tier players, we decided it was time to step back. It wasn't in our best interest to compete with Line Drives for players.''

About 150 area players had the chance to play travel baseball for the ChannelCats over the years. Many, including Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Nate McLouth, had a chance to continue their baseball careers beyond high school.

Piasecki said this is a one-year layoff and he may put the ChannelCats back on the diamond next season.

"We're still going to be an organization interested in promoting travel baseball,'' he said. "We'll take a season off and see what the needs of the community are and if there is another need for travel ball.''

The ChannelCats compiled an overall record of 201-150-3, including 144-106-2 at the 18U level, 7-17-1 at the 16U level ad 50-27 at the 13-14 level.

Piasecki's Muskegon Baseball Club is a non-profit organization, while Line Drives has been set up as a for-profit organization.

Send Your Feedback to the ChannelCats