Reports following the final game of the 2009 Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines World Baseball Challenge, July 16-26 at Prince George Citizen Field:


USA wins title

Prince George Citizen

With a championship on the line, Drew Pomeranz gave Team Germany the M.C. Hammer treatment.
The 20-year-old lefthanded pitcher kept playing “Can’t Touch This,” and danced with a no-hitter into the late stages of the seventh inning to seal an 8-1 victory in Sunday’s Enbridge Northern Gateway World Baseball Challenge championship game at Citizen Field.
“It’s a great feeling, we’ve been working all summer for this and we had a tough time in Japan and came in here and tried to focus and it ended up being good,” said the six-foot-five, 231-pound Pomeranz, a native of Memphis, Tenn. “I had kind of a shaky outing my first one here and I didn’t feel as confident. I felt confident today.
“I was a little mad when they got that hit, I got behind on him and he deserved that one.”
Andreas Janzen stroked a two-out single up the middle of the field in the seventh inning to break up Pomeranz’s no-hit bid. After 101 pitches and 12 strikeouts, he gave the ball over to Nick Pepitone for the eighth. The U.S. went on to outhit Germany 13-1.
“We played well this tournament but we’re disappointed we didn’t come through,” said Janzen, who hit an 0-2 fastball. “Our defence was good and the pitching was good too but we couldn’t get the timing on (Pomeranz’s 96 miles per hour) pitches because we’re not used to those. He had a good fastball and he spotted them well.”
The top of the U.S. batting order was especially deadly. Tyler Holt, Kolten Wong and Rick Hague each had two hits and batted in a combined five runs. Markus Winkler lasted three innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs.
“We wanted to get ahead early and have fun throughout the game and that’s what we did,” said USA catcher Yasmani Grandal. “I didn’t know Pomeranz had a no-hitter going through seven and I was surprised when they got that first hit.”
Grandal combined with Bryce Brentz to hit back-to-back home runs that capped the scoring in the fifth inning. Grandal also scored the go-ahead run after Blake Forsythe ripped one off the wall in the second inning.
The German team, which pulled off a 4-2 upset over Canada in Saturday night’s semifinal, will host the 20-team World Cup, starting Sept. 9 in Regensburg, Germany.
“Our whole intent was to use this tournament to get ready for the World Cup,” said Germany manager Greg Frady. “We didn’t get the final result we wanted but we played strong all week long and I’m very proud of the team, and I tip my hat to the USA team, they played well. We gave our best effort and it wasn’t good enough and we’ll move on and try to learn from this.”
The U.S. team dedicated Sunday’s win to shortstop Christian Colon, who suffered a broken ankle while turning a double play in Friday’s playoff against Canada.
“We really wanted to win this game for C.C., our shortstop, and we pulled through for him,” said WBC home run king Michael Choice, who tied Grandal by hitting three out of the park. “We were just sitting back on the off-speed pitches and if they threw fastball we were just reacting. Drew is a big lefty, he’s intimidating, and when he gets going and he’s hitting spots it’s tough to hit him.”
The U.S. team has now completed its summer season and the players will rejoin their college teams next month. USA manager Rick Jones said winning the WBC championship takes away some of the sting of losing a close series on its tour of Japan earlier this month.
“This is a great memory to finish with,” said Jones. “I didn’t think we swung the bats as well as we  thought we could or would, especially in this ball park. But we pitched really well and for the most part were sound defensively. We won with pitching, defence and some timely hits.
“I want the fans to know how much we appreciate their attendance and support and how much we appreciate how well we were treated here.
“I’m certain that our players will go back now and spread the word to USA Baseball about this last 10 days and what a positive experience it was.”


An overall success

Prince George Citizen

The thrill of the catch is not limited to Citizen Field for players in the Enbridge Northern Gateway World Baseball Challenge.
They've been using their spare time away from the ball field to catch some scaly specimens. The U.S. team has discovered the Cranbrook Hill Greenway trail behind their dorm rooms at the UNBC campus leads to a lake at Forests For The World that was stocked with fish earlier in the spring. And they've been hooking them.
"We went fishing at Shane Lake and caught some trout but I think the next time we go there we'll bring the insect repellant," said Team U.S.A. pitcher Sonny Gray. "I've never been to Canada before. It's beautiful here, we love it. The trails in behind the university are real nice and we like the dorms at the university, even though it's a little bit far from Wal-Mart."
Germany and the Bahamas had a day off Thursday and made the trek north of the city to Ferguson Lake and Carp Lake to test their fishing luck and get a taste of the Canadian wilderness. Spruce City Wildlife helped set the players up with their fishing rods and tackle. Bowling was also on the schedule for the players.
Bahamas pitcher Darren Bowleg says he's liked what he's seen so far on his first trip to Prince George, and his team is feeling the love from the crowds at Citizen Field.
"We've got a lot of people rooting for us in the stands, we had more people cheering for us than they were cheering for B.C.," said Bahamas pitcher Darren Bowleg. "Every time we turn around we hear, 'Go Bahamas, go Bahamas,' and we're thinking that we're home. The people really appreciate us coming this far and we appreciate them being so warm and friendly. Even though we're losing, we want to give them a reason to cheer."
B.C. manager Scott MacKenzie said the WBC organizing committee has taken care of all the needs of the teams and he had high praise for the reception his team has received from city residents.
"We were here a day and the guys were already flabbergasted on how we're being treated," said MacKenzie. "Some guys have played professional and a lot of guys have played on independent  pro teams and they've suggested this is even better treatment than some of those pro teams and it's heads and tails above how college teams get treated.
"We play in Vancouver and get our family and friends out. Up here there's so much support and we appreciate that. We get so excited to come to these tournaments. There's probably not a field in the province to this level, this is purely a treat to play on a surface like this."
Team Canada coach Cav Whitely is from Prince George and he's been showing his players some of the Little League ball parks where he used to hit home runs before he went off to play college ball. All the players on each team have access to the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre, where they've made use of the indoor batting cage, running track and weight room equipment.
"Our guys are really impressed with sporting facilities overall that Prince George has," said Whitely. "They get a chance to work out in the gym and then hit in the cages and none of them have ever seen a facility like that anywhere in Canada that they can actually play baseball in.
"It's a fantastic facility and it goes to show the commitment the city is making to developing sports here at all levels. Knowing how much time Prince George spends inside (in the cold weather months), baseball development needs to happen in an indoor place."
WBC players, under the guidance of B.C. Baseball coaches MacKenzie, Steve McCrea, and David Laing, have spent the past four mornings working with Prince George Youth Baseball players in a four-day skills camp at the NSC. The camp attracted 90 players.
"To have 90 kids at that camp at this time of year is fantastic," said Whitely. "There's the next set of all-stars coming through Prince George and hopefully they will keep climbing that ladder."



Prince George Citizen

The numbers are still being finalized. Preliminary reports, however, suggest that the Enbridge Northern Gateway World Baseball Challenge broke even financially.
The cost of staging the six-team tournament was in excess of $300,000.
"It takes a lot of work by a lot of outstanding people to be able to cover that kind of an expense," said WBC chairman Jim Swanson. "Beyond that, it doesn't look like we just covered our expenses, it looks like we were able to accomplish a first-class event that had participants that came in from out of town, leaving, saying great things about the city and the way they were treated by our committee and the population as a whole. That, to our committee, is what makes us proud."
The WBC ran July 16-26 at Prince George Citizen Field. Team USA beat Team Germany in the final. The other teams involved were Canada, B.C., the Bahamas and the Prince George Westcana Electric Axemen.
A WBC committee meeting is planned for Aug. 30. At that time, final reports will be submitted and numbers crunched. Also at the meeting, discussions about bringing the WBC back to Prince George in 2011 will be held.
In fact, groundwork for 2011 is already being laid by tournament founder Larry Seminoff, a Grand Forks resident.
"Larry being Larry, he's already making contact with teams and nations for national teams," Swanson said. "Team B.C. was fantastic (this year). They came in to replace the Beijing Tigers on short notice after they were not allowed to come by their government because of swine flu concerns, and having Aaron Myette, an ex-major leaguer, on (the B.C.) roster was great. But, this is a world tournament and we continue to be focused on having international teams come in.
"We believe Team Canada would be a part of the next one, we know that Team USA wants to return, we know that Team Germany had a great time and would like to return as well if the funding is in place for them. That's a great base to start from."
Swanson said USA Baseball wants to see the level of competition at the WBC improved and is prepared to help out in that regard.
"They want to come here and be challenged every game they play," he said. "Nothing came easy for them here, every game tested them, and they lost to Germany for the first time in history. They are going to actively get involved with us in recruiting teams for 2011 and we're looking first and foremost to work around the U.S. national team's dates and we're hoping everything can be in place to get that Beijing team in."
Other teams on the wish list include Japan, Cuba, Russia, Great Britain and Venezuela. Contact with the latter four countries has already been made.
"Ideally, we'd like to have a real good idea by early October of the direction we can take, so we can let this city know it's on the way back," Swanson said.
WBC officials would also like to travel to Switzerland in the first week of December for International Baseball Federation (IBAF) meetings.
"That would be an opportunity for us to go and meet with a number of these countries face-to-face," Swanson said. "Emails and phone calls are good, but you have to establish those relationships, create a trust, and sell what we have to offer here. That will be easier now after what was accomplished in July, and we'll benefit from first-hand references from teams like USA, Canada and Germany."
n During this year's WBC, a fundraiser was held for the local branch of the Canadian Cancer Society. Players involved in the event autographed symbolically-pink IBAF baseballs, which were then auctioned off to fans. In total, the initiative generated $2,190.
"We're so glad that some of the social aspect of the tournament came back and benefited more than just baseball and the participants," said Virginia Sprangers, the director of international protocols and the committee member in charge of the cancer program.
"That's good for everyone."


Letter to the editor in Prince George Citizen

As a Prince George parent I have watched many baseball tournaments. I must admit the World Baseball Challenge literally blew me away.
The dedicated and professional support supplied by the many volunteers made this beautiful facility come alive. Every detail from the singing of the national anthems, the availability of foods and beverages, souvenirs and even the grooming of the restrooms were attended to with great care.
Most of all, the participation of the children in games, singing, ball retrieval,or eating an ice cream cone proves that baseball continues to be a family event.  
Congratulations to all those who made this event possible.
Marlene Scoville
Prince George


Prince George Citizen, July 28

If you liked what you saw in the 2009 Enbridge Northern Gateway World Baseball Challenge at Citizen Field, Larry Seminoff says you’re going to love what’s coming the city’s way in 2011.
More teams, higher-calibre players and possibly a surge of interest from advertisers and spectators could be the byproducts as the city’s reputation for hosting top-notch sporting events spreads to points of the world never before captivated by a Prince George event.
Seminoff, the senior commissioner for Baseball B.C., says the WBC will continue to grow as more countries line up to take part in the biennial event. Although WBC organizers were left scrambling when, for various reasons, Cuba (defections), Chinese Tapei (internal politics) and the Beijing Tigers (swine flu fears) dropped out before it began, the six-team tournament unfolded without a hitch, proving to the world Prince George has what it takes to host a successful international baseball tournament.
Seminoff is the founder of the Grand Forks International baseball tournament, an annual event he ran for 27 years in the tiny border town near Trail. He also organized the first WBC tournament in 2002 as a farewell sendoff for the Grand Forks committee, which laid the groundwork for this year’s tournament in P.G.
“In the history of the Grand Forks International and even when we got to the WBC, it’s the word of mouth that was so important in the recruiting of countries and that’s exactly what’s going to happen here,” he said. “Team Germany will go back and their program will be speaking to others on the world stage and it will be much easier to recruit countries to come here.
“You will see more countries in 2011, it was just too bad that we got blindsided by the poor economy around the world. We had three countries on board that were going to be here playing and everything happened almost at the 11th hour.”
Seminoff predicts a pandemic of goodwill will spread to other baseball countries when the teams talk about their Prince George experience. Players, coaches and even the volunteers themselves had words of praise for the work the WBC committee put in to smooth out the wrinkles long before the opening pitch. The players are going to talk about the baseball, but also the fishing trips, sightseeing tours, and the friendships they made during their visit. Also helping stoke the city’s reputation was the hot sunny weather that prevailed nine of the 11 days.
Seminoff was confident the tournament would unfold as it did, having witnessed the 2002 Baseball Canada Senior Championship at Monty Gabriele Park, which he ranks as the best senior national event he’s ever seen.
“I keep going back to the volunteers and the organizing committee, and the leadership provided here is unparalleled,” said Seminoff. “I’ve been very impressed with everything, from the calibre of competition to the facility, which is very impressive, but I’ve really taken notice of the volunteer force the organizing committee has here and they are ones to emulate, it’s just fantastic.
“Whether it’s in Grand Forks or Timbuktu, the volunteer force is the essence of what this event is all about and they certainly have it here, and they’re going to leave their footprints on the success of this championship.”
WBC tournament chairman Jim Swanson breathed a huge sigh of relief, knowing the two years of planning that’s gone into bringing a $300,000 tournament to the city could be the start of a baseball tradition every two years.
“You’ve got to have good people on board and let them do their jobs and trust them and that’s the hallmark of any successful venture,” said Swanson, who also managed the Prince George Westcana Electric Axemen in the WBC. “The Axemen had two days off and I was going to help but every time I went to do something, someone else was already doing it. It was quite amazing.
“Like any other event this town puts on, it’s fantastic to see people come out of the woodwork. They do good work and have a lot of pride in the city and the things we put out in front of people. The baseball has been great and it’s a great venue to watch games in.
“We rode Larry Seminoff’s coat tails on this and without him there’s no Dream Team to hold the first one. We piggybacked on somebody else’s idea and I think it’s worked well.”