By. Ryan Eakin 

BARRIE -- Winners of the last four Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) championships, the Barrie Baycats are once again ready to defend their throne at the top of the Intercounty. 

And their roster is more than talented enough to do so.

Their starting rotation will once again be headlined by ace Emilis Guerrero, the hard-throwing right-handed pitcher from La Romana, Dominican Republic.

He will be joined by fellow countryman Santos Arias, a former Minnesota Twins farmhand who pitched for the Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association last season.

Arias last pitched for the Baycats in 2015, recording an earned run average of 3.12 in eighteen appearances, sixteen games started and 109.2 innings pitched. 

He will replace former Baycats starter Claudio Custodio who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays last week.

Also returning to the starting rotation is strikeout extraordinaire Matthew St. Kitts, as well as veteran Brett Lawson, the 6'7" veteran from Mississauga, Ontario. 

As for the bullpen, relievers Adam Hawes, Brandon Catena, Chris Nagorski and Brad Bissell will all be back, and will be joined by Jaspreet Shergill, a former Baycat who last season played for the Quebec Capitales of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball.

2017 closer Enerio Del Rosario, however, will not be back, nor will late-inning southpaw Adam Rowe, although the latter does have a chance to return due to an import spot still being available due to the departure of Custodio.

Lineup wise, right fielder Ryan Spataro, catcher Kyle DeGrace, first basemen Jordan Castaldo, third basemen Kevin Atkinson, designated hitter Ryan Rijo, second basemen Branfy Infante, left fielder Jeff Cowan and centre fielder Glenn Jackson are all returning, as are bench players Brandon Dhue and Stevie Lewis.

Shortstop Conner Morro, however, will not return, and will be replaced by Dominican Republic native Anderson Green, a former Blue Jays prospect.

They will be joined by newcomer Parker Walker, a Minesing, Ontario native who is attending Kankakee Community College in Illinois. 

The Ontario Blue Jays graduate is expected to be the backup catcher to DeGrace.

Baycats general and field manager Angus Roy said he is happy with his teams roster heading into Sunday's season and home opener against the Kitchener Panthers, a rematch of last year's IBL championship series, a series the Baycats won 4-0 in route to their fourth IBL championship in as many years, and their fifth in franchise history.

"We like where we are," said Roy. We feel like we have put together a championship caliber level team. 

"There are some areas where we feel like we can improve and we will try and address those needs as the season goes along. But everyone was signed because we feel like they give us a chance to win another championship, which is our goal."

Roy said that he is excited to see the impact newcomers Arias, Shergill and Green can make, while with Rowe not on the opening day roster for the first time since 2013, he was appreciative of everything he has done for the team since joining the franchise in June of 2013.

"The expectation is that Shergill will be a major part of our bullpen, while Green will be our opening day shortstop," said Roy. "We signed him because we needed an everyday shortstop with Morro playing in a summer collegiate league at the direction of his school coach. 

"We looked at Canadian options but could not find anyone, so we used an import spot to bring in Green. Branfy knows him well and speaks highly of him so we will see."

"As for Rowe, he was our most important arm for a few years and is a guy that helped us win multiple championships. There is no way we win those championships without his performances.

"He is not only a great baseball player, but he is also a great human being. If he does not come back, he will be remembered as of one of the greatest players that we have ever had here."

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