Last summer, Brandon Hunter and Jeremy Kral wore Team Canada colours at the World Baseball Challenge. With the experience they gained, they were natural choices to play for the Prince George Westcana Electric Axemen at the upcoming Baseball Canada Senior Championship.
Hunter and Kral are two of the locals on the Axemen roster for nationals, which start Thursday and run through Sunday at Citizen Field and Rotary Field. Justin Fillion and Matt Stang are also part of the host club for the eight-team tournament.
The 28-year-old Hunter is an outfielder and Kral, 22, is a catcher.
"We're glad to have [Hunter] in the mix for our outfielders," said Axemen manager Jim Swanson. "He's very good defensively and there's no question that he's an impact bat. He can do some good things for us.
"[Kral] is a left-handed bat with some gap power and probably the best young player in Prince George right now," Swanson added. "He's going to UBC this year and they're starting their camp during the tournament so we had to get permission from [head coach] Terry McKaig to use him. It was a bit of a coup to do that."
As a member of Team Canada at the 2011 WBC -- also held at Citizen Field -- Hunter actually pitched a few innings against Japan. Kral, meanwhile, saw time at his regular position and, against the Bahamas, went 3-for-4 at the plate.
Fillion, a 22-year-old second baseman, also has international experience to his credit. When the Axemen served as the host team at the 2009 WBC, he was in the mix. Fillion is a gifted all-around athlete, as he also skated in the B.C. Hockey League for the Prince George Spruce Kings. Currently, he's a member of the Michigan Tech Huskies.
"He's the best second baseman in town and he's a good player," Swanson said. "And, he's a college hockey player so he's played in some pretty high-level stuff. He's very capable of handling this level of an event and doing a great job for us."
Swanson, meanwhile, said the 26-year-old Stang is a "very good athlete." Stang is an outfielder and a left-handed hitter.
"He helps to balance out our roster," Swanson said. "We have a lot of right-handed hitters, which I think fits the park really well, but you do need to have a lefty to work with."
The rest of the Axemen -- 17 of them, including nine pitchers -- are recruits from the Lower Mainland. While Swanson likes the look of the entire group, the guy he's most excited about is Scott Webster, a six-foot-seven, 215-pound first baseman who was the MVP of the recent provincial championship tournament at Citizen Field.
"He's a huge first baseman and he can hit with power," Swanson said of Webster, who helped the Langley Blaze to the 2012 B.C. title and a berth in the 2013 nationals. "He really likes hitting in this park and is very excited to be here."
The Axemen will play their first game on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Ontario. Alberta and Nova Scotia are also in Prince George's pool.
Teams on the other side of the draw are Manitoba, New Brunswick, B.C. and Ontario 2.
The top two clubs in each pool will qualify for playoffs. The championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the Sunday.
Complete rosters and the full tournament schedule can be found online at http://www.baseball.ca/seniormen/.
RE/MAX Centre City Realty is the title sponsor of the tournament.
