Canberra Cavalry lose pitching ace Steve Kent to Melbourne Aces

But Ward vowed when the two teams clash in their New Year's Eve series the Cavalry will do everything they can to take down Kent and his Aces.

Ward doesn't begrudge his former "go-to guy" in Kent making the move.

Especially after 10 seasons of loyal service to the Cavalry since their ABL inception.

Kent has an ABL-career earned-run average of 3.83, a 26-22 win-loss record and struck out 355 hitters for Canberra.

Ward said the 33-year-old Team Australia pitcher simply received an Aces offer they couldn't match.

"As much as we wanted to keep Kenty, he got an offer that was too good to refuse," he said.

"And at that stage of his career, mid-30s, I can't begrudge him a move to a team for financial reasons.

"At the end of the day he gave me more than I could've expected from him every year. He was our go-to guy on the mound.

"Even though he might be wearing different colours he still bleeds orange at the end of the day. He's a Hall of Famer for the Cavs down the track."

Ward said the biggest hole Kent would leave was the reliability of knowing exactly what you'd get every time the left-hander walked out to the pitching mound.

It didn't matter whether he was starting or coming out of the bullpen, he was always looking to "throw strikes and compete".

"If we had a must-win game and he was due to take the ball, myself and the whole team knew we were going to be in with a massive chance to win that baseball game every time he went out there," Ward said.

"He's a loss ... Kenty gave us the best he could give us.

"Wish him well for Melbourne, but ... hopefully we can come out on top and get the better of him."

Ward said it would open the door for others to shoulder the load Kent once carried.

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They've already taken a step to plugging the hole with the signing of Australian pitcher Lewis Thorpe.

The Canberra Times revealed the former Major Leaguer was coming to Canberra in a bid to get his professional career back on track.

Ward said the Canberra-based Cavalry players started pre-season about two months ago in a bid to be ready for the first non-COVID-affected ABL season for two years.

He planned to organise some pre-season games against other ABL teams at the end of October or early November - ahead of their season opener against the Sydney Blue Sox at Narrabundah Ballpark on November 10.

"It's a great opportunity for some of our other guys to step up and shoulder some of the load that is available now," Ward said.

"Other opportunities are presented for other guys.

"We started our pre-season workouts a good 6-8 weeks earlier than we normally would, given we're coming into a normal season."

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