Miners aim to improve on 2024 record

The wait is over.

The Sussex County Miners will open their 2025 season on Thursday, May 8 with a four-game series against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles.

The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Skylands Stadium, 94 Championship Place, Augusta.

The team is looking to improve on last year’s 33-62 mark.

The Miners forged a 55-40 record in 2023 and qualified for the post-season wild-card game, where they were bested by the New Jersey Jackals.

That was the first time the team qualified for the post-season in its Frontier League stay.

The Miners won the Can-Am League in 2018.

The team plays in the Atlantic Division of the Frontier League along with the Brockton Rox, Down East Bird Dawgs, Jackals, New York Boulders, Ottawa Titans, Quebec Capitales, Tri-County ValleyCats and Aigles.

Chris Widger will be back in the dugout for his third season as the Miners’ manager.

Widger, 53, played 10 years in Major League Baseball, including a stint with the New York Yankees in 2002. He also was a member of the Chicago White Sox team that won a World Series in 2005.

Players to watch this season include 6-foot-5, 220-pound slugger Mahki Backstrom, a former Braves and Astros minor leaguer who brings experience at first base, right field and left field.

Backstrom, 23, is coming off a standout 2024 season with the Great Falls Voyagers of the Pioneer League, where he posted a .350 batting average, .426 on-base percentage, and .706 slugging percentage, combining for an outstanding 1.132 OPS. He collected 62 hits, including 15 doubles, six triples and 12 home runs while driving in 41 runs.

“We’re excited to have Backstrom in a Miners uniform,” said Simon Walters, assistant coach and director of player procurement. “He brings a big left-handed power bat with a smooth glove at first base. He’s super-athletic and comes from a military family. We’re happy to have him with us.”

In February, the Miners signed infielder Sean Roby, a former San Francisco Giants prospect, and infielder/outfielder Gionti Turner, who recently played in the Cleveland Indians and Tampa Bay Rays organizations.

“Sean has a big-time power bat with a glove to match, and he should be the heart and soul of our lineup and a lock-down defender,” Walters said.

“Gionti is super-athletic and comes in to play shortstop. Coaches from the Rays rave about him, and we’re excited to have him play every day and be one of our guys.”

After its season-opening series this weekend, the Miners will welcome the Brockton Rox for three games before traveling to Albany, N.Y., to take on the Tri-County ValleyCats for three games.

Then they go to Quebec, Canada, to face the Aigles for three games.