OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Luis Pardo will turn 30 this summer, yet professional baseball continues to tug at him.

“I’m here for the love of the game,” said Pardo, a pitcher. “And the belief that I still have the passion to keep trying.”

It’s that belief, that opportunity to get another chance, that has brought most of the players to the Old Orchard Beach Surge this season. The team is a member of the North Country Baseball League, a four-team independent league that was founded just weeks ago.

OOB opened its season on the road Friday with an 8-4 win over the Watertown (New York) Bucks, then lost 19-17 on Saturday. The teams meet again at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the first professional baseball game at The Ballpark since the Triple-A Maine Phillies left after the 1988 season.

Many of the Surge players were drafted by major league clubs, only to be released. Others played at small colleges and went unnoticed.

The pay is low, ranging from $500 to $850 per month. But that’s not why they are playing. Playing for the Surge is a chance to get on baseball’s radar again.

“It’s like I told the players when we gathered the other day, it’s not about the money,” said Brad Michals, the team’s director of baseball operations. “As long as you can put the uniform on, you’ve got a chance.”

Michals knows a little bit of what can happen for players who don’t give up. He held the same position with the Worcester (Massachusetts) Tornadoes of the independent Can-Am League for seven years. One of his former finds, Chris Colabello, played seven years in the Can-Am League before signing with the Minnesota Twins – and advancing to the major leagues. He now plays for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Players in the independent leagues see the successes like that and want to continue.

“It’s another chance to be seen and maybe move up the ladder,” said Alex Markakis, a 2014 St. Joseph’s College graduate who is the team’s general manager. “With our guys, it’s a little different. Many of them have already been drafted, so we already know they can do it.”

Manager Nate Nathanson, 64, has coached many of the Surge players in other independent leagues. “They’re solid players, don’t make a whole lot of mistakes,” he said. “And they are mature beyond their years. They’ve played a lot of baseball.

“Many of them played at smaller schools and were overlooked. There are a lot of great baseball players across this nation that just don’t get the opportunity.”

Such as pitcher Eddie Medina, who will be the starter in Tuesday’s home opener. Medina played four years at St. John’s University and throws a fastball in the low-90s. “But physically he’s not a big guy,” said Nathanson. “He is a guy who deserves a shot.”

Then there’s 6-foot-6 left-hander Ron Schreurs, who pitched two years in the Baltimore Orioles organization. “I don’t expect him to be here very long,” said Nathanson.

Michals said the same of 19-year-old shortstop Jonathan Richards, who spent two years in the Miami Marlins organization. “He’ll be back in affiliated (baseball) soon, there’s no doubt in my mind,” said Michals.

Pardo, the oldest player on the roster, was drafted twice, in 2003 and 2007. After two years with the Houston Astros organization, he was released and signed a minor-league deal with the Cincinnati Reds for a year. He has played independent ball since then and suffered a torn ACL in 2013. Last year he played for the Brownsville (Texas) Charros, along with six other Surge players, in the United Baseball League, which folded.

“It’s been basically a stretch of bad patches,” said Pardo, a 6-foot-5 power-throwing right-hander. “I’ve had bad luck for six, seven years. I just feel like my luck has to change soon.”

He has the belief that he can still get batters out, which is why he is here while his wife and two sons are back in California.

“I just have to be the guy I was before my knee surgery,” he said.

But it’s not just former minor leaguers who make up the roster. There are some players just starting their professional careers. Among them are a couple former local college standouts: Tucker White, an outfielder at the University of Southern Maine, and Joe Coyne, a catcher at St. Joseph’s.

White, the D3Baseball.com national player of the year in 2013, went undrafted after his career ended at USM. He spent last year playing professional ball in Germany.

“It was a little different,” he said.

Teams in Germany played two games on the weekends and only held three practices a week. “Otherwise we were in the gym, or shooting baskets,” said White.

White, 24, returned to USM this year to become an assistant coach. But that only fueled his desire to play.

“I’m just pursuing the dream,” he said. “I can’t stop playing baseball yet. Coaching at USM made hanging up the cleats that much harder. I wasn’t ready to just coach. I wanted to still play.”

Coyne led St. Joseph’s with a .404 batting average and 36 RBI this spring. He’s played in summer college leagues, but realizes he is now at a completely different level.

“I’m just trying to soak up as much as I can and see where it takes me, see if I can do something with baseball,” he said. “We’ve got a great group of guys from all around the country and I’m just trying to learn from them.”

He knows it won’t be easy, but then baseball seldom is.

“When I played summer ball before, I was just trying to tune up for the college season,” he said. “This league, I’m trying to show what I can do and move on to the next level. “It’s a chance to open some eyes and impress someone. And win a few ballgames while doing it.”

Related Stories