The ottawa champions of the Can-Am League have released details about the All-Star Game that will be held at their home stadium, RCGT Park, on July 25. The game – Can-Am League vs. American Association – will be the culmination of two days of celebrating independent league baseball and the Ottawa 2017 and Canada 150 festivities. Leading up to the game will be an All-Star Little League and Coaches Clinic, a skills competition and a home run derby competition on July 24.

The game will be the inaugural all-star tilt that features the Can-Am League taking on the American Association.

Due to the fact that the Ottawa Champions were the winners of the Can-Am League in 2016, the club’s manager Hal Lanier will be the skipper of the league’s players in the all-star game. Meanwhile, Rick Forney of the Winnipeg Goldeyes will head the American Association since his team won that league’s title in 2016.

The Champions have filled out their coaching ranks and made a roster move. The ball club has hired Miguel Gomez as pitching coach to replace the departed Billy Horn who left to take up the same position with the Long Island Ducks. He joins player-coach CF Sebastien Boucher who returns as hitting coach and Jared Lemieux who’s back as the first base and outfield coach. Gomez’s resume includes plenty of experience at the high school and professional levels.

He comes to Ottawa after a two-year stay with the El Paso Chihuahuas, a Triple-A club in the San Diego Padres chain. Both Boucher and Lemieux are back in their roles for a third consecutive season with the Champions as Ottawa looks to win back-to-back Can-Am League championships.

The Champions also added some pop to their lineup when they signed Steve Brown.

Lanier sees him as a consistent run producer for the middle of the lineup after his four-year stint with the Can-Am League’s Trois-Rivieres Aigles saw him put up a .278 batting average along with 78 home runs and 330 RBI over the course of 571 games. In 2016, Brown swatted .276 and hit eight homers and drove in 41 runs in 78 games. The Champions begin their 2017 season against Brown’s former team on May 18 at RCGT Park.