PORT ANGELES — The Olympic Crosscutters’ season just ended. Now another begins.
The Crosscutters, a first-year American Legion baseball team, will hold tryouts for its 2015 fall season and 2016 summer season this Saturday and Sunday at Volunteer Field in Port Angeles.
The tryouts are open to players ages 14 to 19 from all high schools on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The sessions run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
At 5 p.m. both days, former major league player Brent Lillibridge will hold a free hitting clinic for ages 9 and up.
This won’t be the only time Lillibridge will work with the Crosscutters. Manager John Qualls said Lillibridge “will be actively involved throughout the winter.”
Qualls said the Crosscutters will have as many as three teams this fall.
The teams will compete in the Puget Sound Collegiate League, which has a season running from Sept. 1 to Oct. 1.
Qualls said there will be Saturday practices and that the games will be doubleheaders played Sundays, so players can still participate in fall high school sports, such as football.
All games will be played on the road, with the nearest venue in Kitsap County.
Qualls said the fall league will offer “more exposure for college, more games.
“It closes gap in the offseason, the down time.”
After the regular season ends, there will be a college showcase Oct. 11, and a championship tournament Oct. 12-18.
The Crosscutters will then work throughout the winter at a private indoor facility in Sequim.
Qualls said the focus will be on the fundamentals during these offseason sessions.
“It’s hard to make any major changes in the season,” he said.
“If you do that in baseball, you’re setting for yourself up for disaster.”
Players who want to try out for the Crosscutters need to be at Volunteer Field, located at West 16th and L St., by 1:30 p.m.
They should register in advance at www.tinyurl.com/pdnCuttersReg.
