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Team Canada will bring local flavour to WBC |
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Written by Ted Clarke, Citizen staff
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Sunday, 05 July 2009 |
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Whitely is coming home as a coach for Team Canada in the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines World Baseball Challenge, July 16-26, back to the city he called home for two-thirds of his life.
"This is actually the first time I'll be back in Prince George coaching," said Whitely, while travelling home from his masters studies at the UBC campus in Vancouver. "The last time I played in Prince George was that senior national tournament in 2002. I actually haven't seen the new ballpark (Citizen Field) in full summer bloom, in all of its glory."
The 30-year-old former UBC Thunderbird infielder is now in his second season coaching the national team under head coach Terry McKaig. The WBC will give the Team Canada coaches a chance to gauge the talent they'll take to Tokyo next summer for the 2010 World University Games. Canada's roster will be made up of half UBC Thunderbird players and half players from U.S.-based college teams. UBC, a member of the NAIA, has long been Canada's college baseball powerhouse, having produced 14 major league draft picks in the last 10 years.
Sammy Starr lived up to his name as the go-to hitter for the T-birds and is expected to be one of Team Canada's leaders. Though small in stature, the shortstop is considered a pro prospect.
Left-handed pitcher Mark Hardy, whose draft rating dropped when he got injured late in the college season, was 11-0 going into his last game. Brandon Kaye, the half-brother of Blue Jays starter Scott Richmond, is also coming in to pitch for Canada. Kaye was picked by the Blue Jays in the 45th round of the 2009 major league draft. Danny Britton-Foster (UBC) and David Walkling (Midland Junior College) are capable of throwing well into the 90 mile per hour range.
Left fielder Nik Lendvoy, an all-conference player at UBC, and Greg Wallace (University of Evansville), a right fielder from Nanaimo, bring power to the plate.
"A lot of the players we'll be using for this tournament are sophomores and juniors in college so they will be eligible for the World University Games," said Whitely. "Getting the team together a lot earlier to play an international tournament is going to make a big difference for these guys."
Whitely has no doubts the U.S. national team is the team to beat in the seven-team tournament, and they'll come to Prince George armed with future major leaguers.
"Like us, they're using this also as a precursor to the University Games (in 2010)," said Whitely. "A lot of those players we played against in the Czech Republic (at the 2008 University Games) and before that in Chinese Taipei, those are the guys who end up making millions of dollars in the draft and going on to play in the big leagues.
"Guys like Mike Palfry (New York Mets) and Jacoby Ellsbury (Boston Red Sox) and Rickie Weeks (Milwaukee Brewers) are some of those guys who are just starting to come up after going through that Team U.S.A. program at that age. Prince George fans will get a chance to learn some of those names early on. It's exciting."
The Nats are scheduled to meet two B.C. college teams and will face the Burnaby Bulldogs senior team over the next two weeks as part of their WBC preparation.
Whitely is happy to see quality homegrown Prince George players like Brooklyn Foster (an Arizona Diamondbacks
draft pick) and Dustin Bissonnette returning to their roots to play for the host Westcana Electric Axemen. Whitely did the same thing in 2002 when he played for the Axemen at the Baseball Canada senior championship.
The original WBC in 2002 in Grand Forks featured 12 teams from eight countries, including Canada, the U.S., Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Italy, Russia, and Samoa. Whitely is confident the Prince George WBC tournament organizers have done their homework, drawing from the experience of the Grand Forks committee, and that the public will buy into the 11-day event and make it a success
"Prince George always does a great job with tournaments, the crowds are always good and really into the games," said Whitely. "That 2002 senior national tournament was run unbelievably well, and this is just another level with a nicer ballpark, so we're expecting big things."
n Tournament passes, priced at $149 and $99 to see all games and the home run derby, are available through Ticketmaster until July 16, then for sale at the gate. Day passes will be $15. Those who have already secured tournament passes can pick them up this weekend at Citizen Field when the Axemen face the St. Albert Tigers, the 2002 national champions, in an exhibition series -- Saturday, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 10 a.m. Purchased passes can also be picked up at the gate starting July 16.
Admission for the St. Albert games will be $5, and volunteers will be accepting donations for the Salvation Army food bank.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 05 July 2009 )
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