The Nashua, New Hampshire-based American Defenders baseball club will host tryouts Saturday, Feb. 28 at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) at 1 p.m. The Defenders will be looking to stock their roster for the upcoming regular season, which begins in May. The American Defenders of New Hampshire are a member of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (Can-Am), an independent baseball league with teams in the American northeast and eastern Canada. “We’ll be looking for anyone who can pick up a baseball, particularly a female softball underhanded pitcher that we can take on tour,” said Terry Allvord, owner of the American Defenders. Point Loma Nazarene and San Diego have a longtime connection with Allvord, founder of the U.S. Military All-Stars in 1990. “Our program, the U.S. Military All-Stars, was based in San Diego,” Allvord said. “Every year from 1995 to 2006, the Navy All-Stars play the Marine All-Stars after one of the Padre games,” Allvord said. There will also be another tryout Sunday at the sports complex of the Barona Indian Reservation. “Because Point Loma Nazarene is a Christian college, we respect that, and will not have the tryouts there on Sunday,” Allvord said. PLNU Athletic Director Carroll Land has been actively involved with the U.S. Military All-Stars for many years. “Dr. Carroll Land has been coaching our Military All-Star team off and on since 1993 and will be coaching our New England collegiate baseball team this summer,” said Allvord. “He’ll be recruiting at the tryouts to try and build his team for the summer.” The Can-Am league is based in Durham, N.C. and is made up of eight franchises: American Defenders of New Hampshire, Atlantic City Surf, Brockton Rox (Mass.), New Jersey Jackals, Ottawa Voyageurs, Quebec Capitales, Sussex Skyhawks (N.J.) and Worcester Tornadoes. The franchise was recently renamed the American Defenders in honor of the U.S. military after being known for its first 11 years as the Nashua Pride. Former owner John Stabile sold the club to the Boston Baseball All-Stars this fall. In 1998, the Pride became one of the charter members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and before they joined the Can-Am in 2006. Nashua followed it up with a league championship in 2007. In addition to Allvord, the Boston Baseball All-Stars are owned and operated by four individuals — former Boston Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette and Nokona executives Buddy Lewis and Jerry O’Connor. Duquette spent four years as the Montreal Expos’ general manager (1991-94). His efforts helped build the 1994 Expos to the best record in Major League Baseball (74-40) at the time of the strike, which wiped out the remainder of the season. Duquette moved on to Boston for eight years (1994-2002), where he acquired a team of talented players such as outfielder Manny Ramirez and first baseman David Ramirez, both of whom were key components to the great Boston Red Sox teams of this decade and the 2004 and 2007 World Series Championship teams. Allvord, a 23-year retired Navy commander, is in his 19th year with the U.S. Military All-Stars. Lewis and O’Connor are executives with Nokona, an athletic equipment company in the Northeast. The Boston Baseball All-Stars own and operate three other teams — the U.S. Military All-Stars, American Defenders of Pittsfield (Mass.) in the New England Collegiate Baseball League and the Latin All-Stars. The franchises under the umbrella of the Boston Baseball All-Stars act as the farm system. Some current professional players have come through the U.S. Military All-Star baseball program, which has had over 23,000 players since 1990. “It has been very beneficial and many of players have gone on to great things,” Allvord said.