2011 Athletics Highlights

A very special thanks to Lynn Kelley for all of his help this year.  His organization skills and his willingness to take on any task has been greatly appreciated by the players and the coaches.  Thanks Lynn.

Thanks also to Aidan Marquardt, Dylan Kozak, Mike Dynna and Chance McDougall.  Aidan and Dylan have been Athletics for three great seasons and i have been proud to watch them progress through the three seasons.  Both will go on to have great college careers but will always be Athletics.  Mike has played with us for two seasons, although his second was shortened by injury which kept Mike from playing the role we were looking forward to from him.  Mike's improvement from his first time on the field with the Athletics has been tremendous and he was missed as we made our provincial run and at Westerns.  Chance has been a great addition this year to the Athletics.  His versatility as an infielder and outfielder has been a great help to our lineup and his timely hits played a big role in our success.  Good luck to all of you guys.

Records smashed in 2011.  Check it out.  In some cases, two players exceeded the previous record.

Western Canadian Baseball Championships - the Athletics were a bit rusty to start the tournament following a three week layoff since provincial, but the team bounced back after an 0-2 start by beating the host Victoria 16-6 and BC 4-2 to finish in a tie for second.  Unfortunately the Athletics failed to advance to the final due to a defensive run tiebreaker by one run. 

Last team standing - Congratulations to the Athletics for qualifying for the Western Canadian Baseball Championships in Victoria, B.C..  The Athletics had a tremendous provincials but fell one game short losing again to Humboldt.  Strong pitching performances by Ty Nostbakken (versus Yorkton) and Brandon Radmacher (in semi-final versus Wolfpack) highlighted the weekend, although we once again continued to hit the baseball as we have for much of the season.

Congrats to Brandon Hernery, Brandon Radmacher, Jordan Schulz and Ryan Filyk for winning a silver medal at the Canada Cup.  Losing 3-2 to Ontario in the gold medal game in the bottom of the 7th.

League Playoffs - Athletics advance to semi-final round but fall one game short of the league championship game, losing two against their rivals, the Humboldt Dodgers.  A banged up team battled this weekend and coaches feel good about taking a healthy team to Moose Jaw for the provincial championships.  Records fell this weekend as Cole Boychuk broke the team record for stolen bases in a season and Brandon Radmacher set the team mark for strikeouts in a season.     

ZONE PLAYOFFS - Athletics advance to final of Zone Playoffs before falling to the Mets.  Bats were lively all weekend, pitching was good enough to win,but defense not where it needs to be to win.  Defense will be better so lets reload and become provincial champions, the true goal of every team in the province.

  Athletics win Spokane - Coeur d'Alene 4th of July Wood Bat Classic --  the Athletics led by strong pitching, solid defense and timely hitting win the prestigious 40 team tournament in Spokane, Washington.  Nathan Adelman pitched a complete game in the final to earn the victory 5-4 ovr Bitteroot, Montana.  This followed a strong semi-final outing from Dylan Kozak which saw the Athletics beat Cheney, Washington 9-0.  Aidan Marquardt pitched in offensively with a three-run home run in the semi-final.  A short-handed Athletics team enjoyed offense from all nine spots in their order throughout the tournament and had several offensive game stars as the team went 6-0-1 for the weekend.  The Athletics left behind injured pitchers Ty Nostbakken and Mike Dynna, as well as catcher and offensive sparkplug Ryan Filyk (attended the football Canada Cup in Lethbridge).  This allowed players to step up, as opposed to focus on who wasn't there, and they all did in a big way.  Players like Jesse LaRocque called upon to help with the catching and then finding himself catching both the semi-final and final.  Cole Boychuk stepping in to make some big plays at third base during the playoff run.  Unknown pitcher Mark Romanow closing out the 7th to clinch the second seed as we moved to the semi-finals.  Great job by everyone.   

Athletics pitching continues to shine.  Mike Dynna throws a no-hitter in Yorkton (two walks short of a third perfect game this season for the Athletics). 

 

 

 

 

 Deja vu all over again.  Story on Brandon Herney's perfect game, A's second of the season is here.

Radmacher Perfect in season opener - see Honor Role for articles.

FORMER PLAYERS HONORED!!  Eric Bryce wins national recognition with University of Buffalo.  J.P. Wilner wins award for outstanding conference play in Georgia.  See Honor Role for articles.