Andrew Albers, 26, helped Team Canada win bronze at the World Cup of Baseball international competition in Panama. In this competition, he pitched against competing teams from the Netherlands, Puerto Rico and Taipei. He later won gold with Team Canada at the international Pan Am Games in Mexico. During this competition, Andrew was credited with the win as Canada earned the gold medal against USA, and many consider this as one of Canada’s greatest baseball achievements in international baseball history. He played along with Dustin Molleken, a relief pitcher from Regina, Saskatchewan, and combined these two players threw 30 innings and gave up only 3 earned runs.
We are pleased to present the recipients of the 2011 Sask Baseball Annual Awards. These awards were presented during our Annual Awards Luncheon at the Regina Inn in Regina on Saturday, October 29th. Presenting the awards is Dustin Molleken of Regina who recently played on the Team Canada Senior Team winning a Bronze Medal at the World Cup and Gold Medal at the Pan Am Games.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
NOLAN BENESH – REGINA
MINOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRAYDEN RESCH – SASKATOON
SENIOR TEAM OF THE YEAR
MARYSBURG ROYALS
MINOR TEAM OF THE YEAR
HUMBOLDT MIDGET AAA DODGERS
BUILDERS OF THE YEAR
LEO & JEAN MACDONALD – REGINA
JOE MCDONALD SPECIAL AWARD OF MERIT
NORM LOEHR – REGINA
MANAGER OF THE YEAR
ROB CHEREPUSCHAK – PILOT BUTTE
LOU SLOTSVE JUNIOR OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR
ERIC EPP – SASKATOON
SENIOR OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR
ROCKY NICKEL – MOOSE JAW
Congratulations to all winners and thank you for taking part in our 2011 Annual Awards Luncheon.
Canada defeats USA 2-1 in the Gold Medal Game at the Pan AM games in Mexico. Andrew Albers (North Battleford) was the starting and winning pitcher and went 6.1 innings while striking out 8 batters! Congratulations to both Andrew and Dustin Molleken (Regina) for your terrific efforts in bringing home the GOLD!
Baseball Canada announced the preliminary roster of players that will travel to St. Petersburg, FL in March as part of the Junior National Team’s Spring Training Alumni Week. Additional players could be named to the roster at a later date. Jager Toffan a member of the Regina Wolfpack and Jordan Schulz of the Regina Athletics were named.
The schedule also features a match-up with the Philadelphia Phillies and two games against the Netherlands who recently captured the IBAF World Cup in Panama. Rounding out the schedule will be a two game set with St. Petersburg Junior College and two games against yet to be determined opponent(s).
Nobody has had a greater impact on Yorkton Minor Baseball than Wade Karcha. One of the founding fathers of the association, Wade has spent 14 years volunteering his time to make Yorkton Minor Baseball one of the finest organizations in Saskatchewan. Whether it’s promoting coaching certification, designing a baseball program for kids 5 and under, generating fundraising dollars or preparing a bid to host a provincial championship, Wade’s presence has been felt in many areas of the association.
When it came time to approach officials from the City of Yorkton about improvements to Jubilee Park, Wade was the driving force behind the proposal that now sees washroom and canteen facilities at the park.
Wade is and was one of the main reasons for the resurgence of baseball in Yorkton and without Wade’s enthusiasm and hard work Yorkton Minor Baseball would not be where it is today.
Zack Demchenko (Saskatoon, SK) turned in a dominant performance on the mound as the Saskatoon Braves won bronze with a 6-1 win over Winnipeg South. Demchenko allowed only one hit and struck out thirteen batters to record the win while Jonathon Duff’s (Regina, SK) double in the fifth scored two runs to put the Braves in front for good.