By Cody Marshall-Sultan of Sports

GALWAY–With the varsity baseball season coming to an end for some schools, with the exception of Sectionals, many capital region players are just waiting for the Eastern New York Travel Baseball season to begin. The ENYTB baseball league is a highly competitive league in which travel teams can gain berths into state, regional, and national tournaments in such leagues as AABC (American Amateur Baseball Congress), PONY (Protect Our Nation’s Youth), and NABF (National Amateur Baseball Federation). For the second consecutive year, Galway will once again have their Dukes franchise representing the area.

ENYTB offers customized scheduling to most teams. Dukes games will normally be played on Wednesday nights, and then doubleheaders on Sundays, unless there is a holiday weekend. Registered at the 18U division, the Dukes will compete with the DevilsCats 17U, NYCD Knights 17U, Greenfield Yellowjackets 18U, Hoosic Valley Rangers 18U, Rotterdam Rangers 18U, Adirondack Hawks 17U, Ballston Cardinals 17U, Greenfield Spartans 17U, Sacandaga Patriots 17U, Tri-County Bees 17U, Schenectady/Schoharie County Vols 18U, Brunswick Buckeyes 17U, Rotterdam Storm 17U, and Clifton Park-Halfmoon Gators 17U.

The regular season division winner is guaranteed a berth in the AABC State Tournament on July 14th. Any teams that do not finish 1st will be given one final shot at clinching a spot by competing in the June Madness 18U tournament. The tournament is scheduled for June 22nd at fields to be determined in Waterford and Troy. There are only four teams registered to compete, including the Dukes.

Today, it was announced that the Dukes season opener will be played on Monday, May 28th. The Dukes will play host to the Brunswick Buckeyes 17U at the Galway High School Field. Game one is scheduled to get under way at 11am, with the second game planned to start approximately 20 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. All games are seven innings, however, doubleheaders will have a change of home team. In game one, the Dukes will be the home team, but Brunswick will be the home team for game two.

For those of you who are curious, the 2012 Galway Dukes roster is posted below. There are many new faces to the roster, as ENYTB does not have district limitations.