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Not since 1989 when the Oilers hosted the NHL all-star game, has Edmonton seen the likes of the All-Star game and festivities that this weekend will bring to the gem of the River Valley, Re-Max Field. The WCBL All-Star weekend is upon us and the Edmonton Prospects are hosting. Both the home run derby (2:00 pm) and the all-star game (4:00 pm) will take place on Sunday, July 8th.

At the start of the season the WMBL rebranded to the Western Canadian Baseball League and with that new structure, came the announcement of the first ever all-star game. The natural first-ever host of the inaugural all-star game would be the league’s biggest market in Edmonton and as the date approaches, the hype is building. I spoke to the new (this season) manager of the Prospects, Jordan Blundell about what it means for the league to re-brand:

The new format the WCBL adopted this year is an increased regular season schedule from 48 to 56 games and an All Star Game.  For our organization this guarantees 4 additional home games that we can create promotions and partnerships within the community.  As well, it provides our fans with more opportunities to enjoy Remax Field and cheer on the Prospects Baseball Club.  The All Star Game is a project we presented to the league to highlight our product and promote baseball throughout Western Canada.  With the growth of the game in Canada and in the Edmonton community we felt it would a great opportunity to highlight the leagues best players in the leagues biggest market.
The Prospects will play host to the all-star game both this season and next, and although the rosters have yet to be announced, Blundell said we should have two Prospects to watch out for in Sunday’s action:
Travis Hunt is a RF from Moreno Valley, CA and plays at the University of Benedictine-Mesa in Mesa, Arizona.
Hunter Boyd is a RHP from Moses Lake, WA and attended the College of Idaho this past season.
The Prospects themselves are in the middle of the pack spot, and in his first season as Skipper, Blundell thinks that the future looks bright:
 Being in my first year as the Head Coach of the Prospects, we’ve gone through some ups and downs on the field in the first half.  Our goal is to help each player improve while they are with our ball club which I feel we’ve been able to do thus far.  The challenges so far have been finding consistency each day and more so finding a consistency with the level of play each game on our schedule.
For my money, there is no better place to be in the summer than at the beautiful ballpark in our midst, watching some dingers and having a nice refreshing bubbly pop with some pals. That’s where I’ll be this Sunday if you want to join me you can grab tickets here.
While you’re there, you can also grab tickets to our Nation Night at the ballpark. If you haven’t been down to one of these, it’s always a blast. We get up to our usual hijinks and bring down all the charitable organizations in Edmonton and their volunteers with tickets on us. Those tickets can be bought here.