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Countdown to Arizona spring training (Mar 12/12)

CANNONS

WINTER TRAINING

The Cannons work out four or five times a week in preparation for our trip to Phoenix in March.  That includes bull pens and hitting in the cage, baseball weight-training and gym sessions.  Check the CALENDAR for times.

 

SPRING TRAINING IN ARIZONA

March 11 to 19 

The CANNONS will play 10 games in PHOENIX.  This is our third trip to Arizona for spring training and this year we'll be travelling with 24 players.  The current schedule includes:

March 12--CANNONS vs. Houston, 

                  CANNONS vs. Coronado,

March 13--CANNONS vs. Bradshaw Mt.
                  CANNONS vs. Abbotsford

March 14--CANNONS vs. Grand Junction

March 15--CANNONS vs. Calgary
                  CANNONS vs. Bowie

March 16--CANNONS vs. Central

March 17--CANNONS vs. Fraser Valley
                  CANNONS vs. Calgary
 

Ryan Dempster: Accountability

          In Chicago hope springs eternal.  It’s been over 100 years since the Cubs won the World Series but their fans are as rabid and commited as a religious cult.  In Chicago if you play for the Cubs you’re a Super Hero.  Win it all and you own the town.  If Ryan Dempster prevailed in the seventh game of the Fall Classic he could run for mayor and it would be unanimous and unopposed.  Mayor Dempster.  Has a nice ring to it.

          Every year the team holds a Cub Fest in January and this time around the standing ovation went to to Theo Eptein, the newly knighted Crown Prince of Baseball Operations, the same Theo who sculpted the rise to power of the Boston Red Sox, another long time suffering team.  That is, until Theo arrived.

          Epstein, GM Jed Hoyer and manager Dale Sveum, all new, are extremely positive about the 2012 season.  So is hitting instructor Rudy Jaramillo, who I spent some time with last March talking about bat path and mental approach at the plate.  But, then, isn’t every team positive in January.

          Dempster has heard it all before.  He has immense disdain for the Cubs work ethic in the past, particularly Carlos Zambrano who has gargantuan talent but absolutely no discipline (and is now long gone to Florida), and he yearns for a team that will pay the price, that will work their butts off to get to the playoffs, to get to the World Series.  Ryan knows no other way.  Work.  Work.  Work.  Get better.  Get stronger.  Compete.  Battle.  In other words:

          Accountability. 

       This is from the Cubs web-site:

    There is no timetable for the Cubs' turnaround but fans may need to be patient.  Ryan Dempster knows that may be tough for some to understand.

          "You hear Theo and Dale talk about the style of baseball we want to play and the standard we'll be held to and accountability," Dempster said. "It's always talked about and not always enforced and I'm excited because I want accountability enforced.

          "You'll see a group of guys this year who are really hungry to play well and we’re led by management who are hungry and want to win," he said.

          There was snow on the ground outside the Hilton Chicago, and it was easy to dream about Spring Training in Phoenix. 

 

CANNONS AND
THE CANADIAN NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM

     Three years ago, in our first season, the Cannons put three players on the Canadian national junior team.

     Tom Robson.
     Vaughn Mabone.
     Rowan Wick. 

     This was their major stepping stone to pro baseball and all three were drafted by major league teams.

     Rowan is playing college ball in California and Tommy   (Toronto Blue Jays) and Vaughn (Cincinnati Reds) have signed pro contracts.    

     Playing for B.C. Selects and then the national team is what the Cannons program is all about.

LOOKING BACK on the 2011 season 

 Cannons raining hits

          JUNE 12 The weather was beautiful but it was raining hits for the Cannons on the weekend.  The Vancouver bats came alive with a vengeance as the Cannons posted three wins at Queen’s Park.

 

          It started with a bang Saturday when Corbin Henderson drilled his third jack of the season, a two-run shot over the right field fence against the Victoria Mariners.  Mike Orosz and Brandon Favaro both had a pair of hits in that one and Trevor Anderson threw another gem, scattering seven hits as the Cannons posted a 3-2 victory.

 

          The Mariners bounced back to win the second game 6-2 but Gray Griffiths had a pair of singles to kick-off a tremendous weekend where he went seven for 14 with a crescendo of line drives. 

 

          But the games against Victoria were only a warm-up.  On Sunday the Cannons ripped a cascade of 27 hits against the North Shore Twins to take both ends of their doubleheader. 

 

          In the opener, Griffiths, hitting lead-off, collected three hits and walked twice and Keno Magano added three singles as the Cannons won 11-3.  Henderson, Orosz, Kirk Sorensen and Lee Jensen all popped a pair of hits in that one.  Henderson, who hit the ball hard all weekend, drove in four runs and Orosz added a pair of RBI’s.  Connor Noble struggled with his control but battled as usual to post the win and Justin Gadey closed it out. 

 

          In the nightcap the Cannons got two more hits each from Griffiths, Sorensen, Anderson and Byron Prasad as they edged the Twins 6-3.  Taran Kingsbury got stronger each inning, throwing a solid five-hitter after a shakey start.  Matthew Yee and Prasad both doubled.

 

          

In "The Cannon"

Adam Loewen

Corbin All-Conference 

Bankrupting the Dodgers

Dock Ellis and the LSD No-hitter

The Tyranny of Statistics

 

For CANNONS information please contact:

Dave Empey, head coach
and General Manager

daveempey@shaw.ca

604 771-9736

All NEW players, 14 to 18, are welcome.

CANNONS BASEBALL for players who live in Vancouver, Burnaby or Richmond or have a release from another PBL team.

CANNONS PHILOSOPHY

We believe in LOYALTY

Once a Cannon, always a Cannon

OUR PRIORITY IS YOUR FUTURE 

We want to win, of course, but that's not nearly as important as where you play when you leave the CANNONS.  If you develop into a pro prospect and we can help you get drafted, then great.  But equally important is a chance to play college baseball and get an education. 

The Cannons put three players on the CANADIAN NATIONAL JUNIOR team in 2009, including pitchers Vaughn Mabone Covington and Tom Robson and catcher/outfielder Rowan Wick.  And Cannons ace Allen Rimer was named Top Pitcher in the PBL.

Last year Rowan was drafted in the 19th round by the Milwaukee Brewers.  And this season the Cincinnati Reds selected Vaughn in the 11th round. 

Head coach Dave Empey has developed players drafted 23 times by major league teams and put 12 into professional baseball.  Three of them reached the major leagues, including pitcher Ryan Dempster, a National League all-star in 2000 and 2008 and the team leader of the Chicago Cubs.

We had a very young team our first season, with seven grade 10 players on our senior team, but we still managed to finish in the playoffs.  In 2010 we added a JUNIOR team and our emphasis remains the same.  PLAYER DEVELOPMENT. 

We expect to get players drafted by Major League teams and we focus on our graduates going on to college baseball.  With that in mind, the Cannons are committed to player development in Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond.