Two years ago on home turf they were expected to win.
Last year in Duncan their triumph at the provincial double-A midget baseball championship came right out of left field.
That begs the question: do the Prince George Total Tops midget Knights have what it takes to pull off a threepeat?
Don't be too surprised if it happens.
The Knights have made significant strides in the off-season, picking up a veteran of the B.C. Premier Baseball League along with his talented younger brother, both of whom will add pitching depth to an experienced blend of battle-tested ball players. While it's early in the season and the Knights are just getting used to real grass again, they have high hopes about what's in store for them this summer.
The Knights' season is built around peaking for the B.C. Minor Baseball under-18 double-A championship, July 30 to Aug. 4 in Mission.
"That would be pretty special to win three years in a row," said infielder Bryan Allbee. "I wasn't with the team two years ago but last year was pretty awesome to go to provincials and win that. We were ranked around last going in, and once we got there we just started hitting the ball and we started rolling from there."
The Knights are gearing up for the first pitch in league play Wednesday night at Citizen Field when they begin an 18-game schedule in the Prince George Senior Baseball League against the Dawn Till Dusk Titans. Last year the Knights struggled, finishing with a 1-17 record.
"I think we'll have a lot more to offer this year in the senior league," said Allbee. "It's a tough league but we'll have a lot better shot this year. It makes us that much better. Some of those guys throw pretty hard and when you get down to provincials you've pretty much seen the hardest [pitching] you'll see."
Also returning from last year's Knights team are pitcher/infielder Jackson Belanger, outfielder Myles Kazakoff, outfielder Dryden Barkowski, second baseman Nicholas Potskin (out for at least a month with a torn hamstring), and catcher Cole Waldie (back for a third season with the team). Potskin and Waldie both played for the 2012 midget champions.
Tyrus Jocko, 18, and his 16-year-old brother Brendan joined the Knights this season and both know how to pitch. Tyrus was a regular last year in the B.C. Premier Baseball League with Victoria. In eight games as a pitcher facing the province's top 17- to 20-year-olds he compiled an 0-1 record with a 4.66 ERA, but it's his batting statistics as a third baseman that clearly stand out. He hit .290 in 28 regular-season games for the Eagles with three doubles and nine RBI, then bumped his batting average to .300 through five playoff games.
Tyrus will be the Knights' shortstop while Brendan, who also hits for power, will play either at first or third base.
"We were wondering how we were going to fill out the infield and we had a pleasant surprise this year when the Jocko bothers joined the team," said Knights manager Troy Waldie. "Tyrus played in the Premier League for the Victoria Eagles and they won provincials.
"They're both dynamite players who will help our team immensely. I honestly believe our team is going to be fun to watch. It's amazing when you plug those holes with good players how much it makes everybody on the team better."
Among the more impressive newcomers is Omar Medina, a Prince George Track and Field Club member who has good hands and solid baseball instincts and will get some time at shortstop. Left-handed pitcher/outfielder Keiran Leboe, a national-level hammer thrower in track and field, is the only southpaw, but nine of the 12 Knights can pitch and that makes it much easier on the team in tournament play when pitch-count rules come into play. Midget pitchers are limited to 50 pitches to be allowed to pitch in consecutive games but can't pitch three games in a row. If they go up to 65 pitches they are required to have one day of rest, and if they reach 85 they have to get two days' rest.
Dylan Lukinchuk, Bailey Mcfaul and Craig Budskin are the other Knights' first-year midgets.
Coach Waldie is a stickler for practicing and had his players involved in winter workouts refining baseball skills at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre more than in previous years. For Waldie and assistant coaches Marcel Belanger, Gary Allbee and Dean Kazakoff, that was time well-spent. They noticed right away in the Knights' first practice last weekend the players were fit, thrown balls were on target, catches were being made and batters were making solid contact.
"It was almost like they'd never left, it's pretty neat actually," said Waldie. "The Northern Sport Centre is the best thing to happen to baseball.
"We get to play in the senior men's league, which is going to probably be better competition than we would see at tournaments, so we don't need to go on the road nearly as much as what the younger [all-star teams] do. We're developing players to go on to bigger and better things."
Both Jocko brothers have college baseball aspirations. Cole Waldie, the Knights' only catcher, has committed to join Vancouver Island University next fall.
