Sask Baseball would very much like to congratulate two members of our Team Sask Alumni, Andrew Albers (North Battleford) and Dustin Molleken (Regina) for being selected to Team Canada at the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Both Albers and Molleken had strong performances over the three round robin games against Italy, Mexico and USA.
Albers pitched 3 innings against Mexico where he allowed 2 runs and struck out 3 batters, including MLB superstar Adrian Gonzalez.
Molleken pitched 4 innings over two games agaist Italy and USA. He allowed a total of 2 hits and had a 0.00 ERA. In his 2 innings against Team USA, Molleken retired in order Jimmy Rollins, Brandon Phillips and Ryan Braun and then the next inning he retired Joe Mauer, David Wright and Adam Jones only giving up an infield single to Ben Zobrist!
Albers now heads back to pitch in the Minnesota Twins farm system and Molleken will now go back to Japan to pitch for the Nippon Ham Fighters. Good luck this season guys!
Jordan Schulz (Strasbourg) and Jager Toffan (Regina) have signed on to attend college baseball programs in the Fall.
Schulz will be attending NCAA Division 1 Stetson University in Florida and Toffan will be attending Blinn Junior College in Texas.
Congratulations to both of you!
Sask Baseball is sending thoughts and prayers to the Brennan Luffman family in his tragic loss. Brennan was a talented and spirited outfielder and LHP with the Team Sask program. He was part of the 2005 Canada Cup team that lost a heartbreaking extra inning game to Team Alberta for the Bronze Medal. He played his midget baseball in Weyburn for the Beavers and will always be remembered for making the game look easy and having fun while playing as he was a great teammate.
In this tragic time, Charlene Luffman, the mother of Brennan, would like to let everyone know that in lieu of flowers people are welcome to donate in the memory of Brennan Luffman by donating to Sask Baseball’s Sport Legacy Fund. A cheque can be mailed to either the Regina office or Saskatoon office. Cheques can be made out to “Sport Legacy Fund” and please include a note saying in memory of Brennan Luffman. Once donations have come in Sask Baseball will meet with the Luffman family and decide how best they would like to have Brennan’s memory preserved through the sport and teammates he cherished and inspired. Please include your name and mailing address along with your cheque or money order in order to receive a tax deductible receipt. Thank you for your generosity and your thoughts and prayers for the Luffman family.
Photo & Article Courtesy of Baseball Canada
Jimmy Rattlesnake Award – Bradi Wall (Swift Current)
After undergoing knee surgery two years ago that caused her to miss the 2010 World Cup, Bradi made her World Cup debut with Team Canada in Edmonton. Steady, is the best term to describe Bradi as she made all of the routine plays on defence and came up with some web gems at other times in starting all nine World Cup games at the ever-important shortstop position.
Bradi’s ‘steadiness’ carried over on offence too as she provided stability at the bottom of the order hitting .387 with three doubles, two triples and 11 RBIs. A highlight in Bradi’s tournament came in an extra-innings win over Team USA where she cracked a bases clearing double in the top of the 8th as part of a 7-run outburst for Team Canada.
We are pleased to present the recipients of the 2012 Sask Baseball Annual Awards. These awards were presented during our Annual Awards Luncheon at the Saskatoon Inn in Saskatoon on Saturday, October 27th.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JORDAN SCHULZ – STRASBOURG
PHOTO COMING SOON
MINOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
ALEX GALLOWAY – PILOT BUTTE
SENIOR TEAM OF THE YEAR
REGINA RED SOX
MINOR TEAM OF THE YEAR
MUENSTER PEE WEE AA RED SOX
MANAGER OF THE YEAR
PAT MOSER – SASKATOON
BUILDER OF THE YEAR
KEVIN KUSCH – LLOYDMINSTER
SENIOR UMPIRE OF THE YEAR
SCOTT MILLS – SASKATOON
LOU SLOTSVE JUNIOR UMPIRE OF THE YEAR
DYLAN BORNHORST – ST. GREGOR
PATRON (SPONSOR) OF THE YEAR
AL ANDERSON’S SOURCE FOR SPORTS – SASKATOON
JOE MCDONALD SPECIAL AWARD OF MERIT
GEOFF HUGHES
NO PHOTO AVAILABLE AS GEOFF WAS NOT ABLE TO ATTEND
2011 BASEBALL CANADA GRASSROOTS COACH AWARD
JACK CAMERON – MAPLE CREEK
Baseball Canada & Andrew Albers recognized by COPABE
Friday, September 14, 2012
OTTAWA-COPABE (Confederacy Pan American Baseball) has named Baseball Canada the Federation of the Year for 2011 and named National Team player Andrew Albers (North Battleford, SK) as its Senior Male Athlete of the Year for 2011.
Baseball Canada enjoyed a banner year in 2011 as the Senior National Team captured the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico with a 2-1 victory over the United States in the championship game and took home the bronze medal at the IBAF World Cup in Panama.
In November, the Junior National Team claimed the silver medal at the COPABE 18U World Qualifier in Cartagena, Colombia.
Albers was key contributor on the mound for the Senior National Team in both starting and relief roles.
Albers started the World Cup opener against Puerto Rico and threw 5 shutout innings to pick-up the victory. He followed that up with five combined innings of shutout relief in wins over Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands where he gave up only two hits.
When Canada faced a must win situation against South Korea with a medal round spot on the line, Albers came through with another five inning shutout performance to earn the win.
At the Pan Am Games Albers continued to dazzle in relief as he threw three solid innings as Canada opened the tournament with a win against Puerto Rico.
After a loss to Cuba, Canada defeated Venezuela and host Mexico in the semi-finals which booked a date with the United States in Gold Medal game.
Manager Ernie Whitt handed Albers the ball and after surrendering a run in the bottom of the first he shutdown the US and struck out eight batters en route to earning the win in the gold medal game.
Albers is currently a member of Baseball Canada’s World Baseball Classic Qualifier team.
Baseball Canada and Sask Baseball would like to congratulate Andrew on this great honour.
Adam Morissette
Coordinator, Media/Public Relations
Baseball Canada