Page 27 Humboldt journal August 17, 2011
Midget AAA Dodgers GÊÊ Lç » ã N ã®ÊÄ ½Ý!
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Page 28 Humboldt journal August 17, 2011
Local boys show talent through sports by Jodi Schellenberg Journal Staff Writer
It is an accomplishment not many people can claim. Within the last year, Jordan Gerwing and Merit Meyer have won three provincial titles for Humboldt teams in football, hockey and baseball. Their winning streak started off with the Mohawks Football team winning the provincial title for the school. “We went in undefeated,” said Gerwing. The boys, both 18, graduated in the spring, making the fall football season their last. “The year before, it was so close,” said Meyer. “We lost in the semi-final that year — it was a heart breaker.” Since it was their last year of attempting to achieve the title, the boys said they put a big effort into winning. “I knew it was my last year of playing,” said Gerwing. “I just had a lot of fun.” Then the boys were both on the Humboldt Broncos Midget AA hockey team, which also picked up the provincial title. “That was pretty special because we did it two years in a row and that doesn’t come by often,” said Meyer. Now the boys were on the winning Humboldt Dodgers AAA Midget baseball team, who won provincials on July 31. “It was really nice to win this one now especially since some of us have been together for seven years now,” said Gerwing. The Dodgers have been in the final three or four times, said the boys. “We’ve had quite a few heartbreakers down the line,” said Gerwing. “It’s nice to bring a new provincial championship to the town and hopefully we can keep it going into nationals,” said Meyer. The boys are proud of their accomplishments and are excited to be
going to baseball nationals on August 18 in Regina. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” said Meyer. They are excited to face new teams from different provinces and play some great baseball. “It’s going to be fun to meet some new guys and new teams,” said Gerwing. “I think the whole atmosphere is going to be really fun to play in.” Meyer said he looks forward to seeing the competitiveness from teams they have never played before. They also hope winning provincials and going to nationals inspires children in the area to get involved in their favourite sport. “I hope it helps brings baseball back to Humboldt because it has been dying,” said Gerwing. They would like to see more people come out to baseball in the future. “For hockey and football, tons of people come out to our games and that just gets you going to play,” said Gerwing. “Not so much for baseball, but hopefully that changes and we have people come down for nationals.” Although they have been on three teams to win a provincial championship, the boys credit the talent of the rest of the team players. “It’s pretty amazing and it just shows how talented our town is in athletics,” said Gerwing. Both boys have been involved in athletics from a young age. Gerwing started playing baseball when he was about four-years-old, hockey at fiveyears-old and football since Grade 9. Meyer started out in baseball and hockey about the same time as Gerwing and football in Grade 11. They credit baseball as being their favourite sport to play because of the companionship and camaraderie they have with their teammates. “You get to hang out with your friends everyday,” said Gerwing. “Even practicing, it’s just fun to go
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Jordan Gerwing (left) and Merit Meyer (right) stand together after Provincials. Photo courtesy of Roger Gerwing
out and have fun.” “We’re all best friends, pretty much, and have been together a lot time,” said Meyer. They both explained the best thing about the sport is that the whole team is friends. Although they loved played sports, both boys are looking forward to a quieter year in the fall. Gerwing will be attending St. Peter’s College in Muenster this fall, taking Commerce. “I might temporarily (take a break) from sports,” said Gerwing. “I might
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play football or baseball somewhere down the road. And when or if I have kids I’d like to coach... actually regardless of whether or not I have kids, I’d like to coach, probably baseball.” Meyer also will be cutting back his sports activities. “I might play some hockey in the fall, but I don’t know where,” said Meyer. The training for playing three sports at the same time was challenging. See BOYS on page 31
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Page 29 Humboldt journal August 17, 2011
Dodgers’ success flashback for coaches by Elodie Adams Journal Staff Writer
Role models are important for young athletes. The Humboldt Dodgers have been very lucky to have two such individuals in their coaches, Roger Gerwing and Mike Suchan. Both men have drawn on their own personal achievements in the game, passing on the skills they learned in the past to the young players. The right attitude, the correct skills, good practice habits, all aid in the development of a winning side. It didn’t happen overnight or even this season. It was engendered over the course of a number of seasons, where success was at times limited but the teaching and the learning progressed. Step back half a lifetime and you can see that history has a habit of repeating itself. Both Suchan and Gerwing were members of provincial championship sides at this age level. When their teams won provincials, amateur baseball leagues were structured differently, Gerwing explained. There was no classification in the league like the A, AA and AAA levels that categorize the teams now. City teams would play small town teams, and the winners of provincials would go to western championships before heading to nationals. Gerwing played for the Lake Lenore Lakers in the town where he grew up, and the memorable year for him was 1981, the year his team won the provincials. “For us – we are a town of 300 people – winning a tournament in Saskatoon was one thing,” said Gerwing, “but to move on to provincials was something else.” “Only the city teams were considered worthy,” he said, then added j o k i n g l y, “ We were referred to as stubble-jumpers.” F ro m p ro v i n cials, the Lake Lenore Lakers went on to play westerns in Alberta, where they finished second and qualified for nationals. It was an achievement never
before experienced by rural prairie farmers’ boys. For Mike Suchan, it was still farther back in time, 1969, when the Humboldt A-Line A’s went to provincials. “It was a four-team championship between Regina, Saskatoon, Viscount and Humboldt, believe it or not,” said Suchan, who goes on to tell how the A-Line A’s ended up in the finals. “When we played in the original final we actually lost the game, but their pitcher pitched too many innings, and we protested. We won the protest, but we ended up having to play another championship game at a neutral site,” he explained. The Humboldt A-Line A’s won that game, earning the right to go to the western championships, where they lost to Winnipeg. Still it is an experience that Suchan has never forgotten. Now, with the 2011 Baseball Canada National Championships only days away, the two coaches are riding on the wave of excitement right along with the Dodgers team members who are preparing for the games in Regina, August 18-22. The two coaches seem intent on giving much of the credit for the team’s provincial championship to the athletes and their parents. They spoke with pride “of the care each player had for one another” and the “team comes first” approach that guided them to victory this year.
Both men have been coaching the Humboldt Dodgers together for seven years, giving of their time and love of the game to bring the 16- to 18-yearold players to the pinnacle the team has achieved this year. In spite of some talented players, not one of the Dodgers was picked up for the Sask Select team, and Suchan considers it was perhaps one of the factors that made the boys work that much harder in the playoffs. “They wanted to show that they were just as good ball players as the other kids who were picked up,” Suchan said. This is the last year for the team as it is. Next year all except two of the team’s players will be moving on, and the whole structure of the team will change. In the meantime, the Humboldt Dodgers have a lot to be proud of. Roger Gerwing (left) and Mike Suchan have been coaching the Dodgers together for seven years. Both men played for teams that won provincials. Suchan holds the jacket he wore when he played for Humboldt A-Line A’s.
photo by Elodie Adams
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Page 30 Humboldt journal August 17, 2011
Midget AAA Dodgers headed to Nationals by Jodi Schellenberg Journal Staff Writer
It was a dream come true for a local baseball team. The Humboldt Dodgers AAA Midget baseball team won the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Provincials on July 31 in Moose Jaw and will be heading to the Baseball Canada Midget National Championship August 18. “This is the highest caliber of baseball you can play at this level,” said coach Mike Suchan. The team played very well at Provincials, proving they deserved the winning title. “It think their record speaks for itself,” said Suchan. The tournament started out with a game against the Regina Athletics, which they won 6-3. “Craig McWillie, Keenan Lucas and Eric Bollefer all did a great job of pitching that game,” said Suchan. “They are all three left-handed pitchers, which is also cool.” The rest of the team were impressed with the job the pitchers did in the tournament as well. “Our pitchers never lost a game for us,” said player Curtis Fontaine. Their second game was against the Saskatoon Diamond Backs, which they also won. “After that, we were guaranteed first in our pool,” said Suchan. Since they were already guaranteed first in the pool, the coaches gave them a personal challenge for the tournament. “The challenge was out there to see if they could go undefeated,” said Suchan. The team accepted that challenge and went into the semi-final game against the Southeast Legacy Twins undefeated. “Dean Jaeb pitched a complete game shut out 50,” said Suchan. Then they won their final game in a 3-0 victory against the Regina Athletics. “We were focused and that came through when we needed it,” said player Jason Fleishhacker. “We’ve played in quite a few before,” said Fontaine. “We knew what to expect going in.” The boys felt this was their last chance to show what they could do as a team. “It was our last crack at it,” said Fleishhacker. “We lost the last two years.” The Dodgers were excited to finally win the provincial title. “It is an inspiration to Humboldt — it’s something our community can be proud of,” said Fontaine. “It’s unreal — it’s something the boys and I will remember the rest of our lives,” said player Cameron Blair. “We couldn’t have played much better.”
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They will now be moving onto the National Championship in Regina on August 18. “They will be facing the top 16 to 18-year-olds across Canada,” said Suchan. Suchan has confidence the boys will do well in Nationals, even though they are the first team from Humboldt to make it to Nationals. The last Humboldt team to make it to a higher championship was the A-Line A’s who went to Westerns in 1969. “This group is a pretty amazing group,” said Suchan. “They have been together seven years — some of them for eight to nine years and it’s something they have been working towards for a long time. They are extremely deserving of it.” The team is excited for this opportunity to show the rest of Canada their skills. “I’m pretty excited — I’ve never been to anything like it before,” said Fleishhacker. “It’s going to be fun — I’m excited to play ball down there.” The only concern the team has is playing unfaSchedule Thursday, August 18, 2011 1 9:00 AM Optimist Park 2 9:00 AM Currie Field 3 12:00 PM Optimist Park 4 12:00 PM Currie Field 5 3:00 PM Optimist Park 6 3:00 PM Currie Field 6:00 PM Optimist Park 7 8:00 PM Optimist Park 8 8:00 PM Currie Field Friday, August 19, 2011 9 9:00 AM Optimist Park 10 9:00 AM Currie Field 11 12:00 PM Optimist Park 12 12:00 PM Currie Field 13 3:00 PM Optimist Park 14 3:00 PM Currie Field 15 6:00 PM Optimist Park 16 6:00 PM Currie Field Saturday, August 20, 2011 17 9:00 AM Optimist Park 18 9:00 AM Currie Field 19 12:00 PM Optimist Park 20 12:00 PM Currie Field 21 4:00 PM Optimist Park 22 4:00 PM Currie Field 23 7:00 PM Currie Field Sunday, August 21, 2011 24 9:00 AM Optimist Park 25 9:00 AM Currie Field 26 1:30 PM Optimist Park 27 5:00 PM Optimist Park
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miliar teams. “When you have teams from all different provinces, you don’t know what to expect,” said Fontaine. “We will show them how we play — that’s all we can do,” said player Brandon Tkatch. The boys work well as a team, but some individual players stood out as well. “We had some individual efforts that were really neat to see,” said Mike Suchan. Dean Jaeb was named top pitcher in the league, Jordan Gerwing and Brandon Tkatch were top in batting, Cam Blair was second in the league in double and Gerwing was second in the league in triples. Although some players stood out in the league, to the team the most important thing in baseball is the friendships they have formed. “We have lots of friends on the team,” said Fleishhacker. “It’s fun being together on a team.” The core group has been together since their first year of midget, said Fontaine. “We knew we couldn’t let each other down.”
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Page 31 Humboldt journal August 17, 2011
Jaeb named top pitcher in league by Jodi Schellenberg Journal Staff Writer
It was an accomplishment he never expected. Dean Jaeb, pitcher for the Humboldt Dodger Midget AAA baseball team was named top pitcher in the league. “It is quite a bit of an accomplishment,” said Jaeb.”It is a province-wide league, so just knowing that you are looked at as one of the best is pretty cool.” Jaeb never expected to be named top pitcher in the league and credits his team with the honour. “I don’t take full credit for that award at all, it’s 90 per cent the team,” said Jaeb. He explained that as a pitcher, without the rest of the team playing great defence, he would not have been able to do his part. “They helped me get out of a lot of jams and helped me through a lot of stuff,”
said Jaeb. He believes a lot of people helped shape him into the player he is today, including his teammates and parents. “When I was younger, I had great parents and they played with me a lot,” said Jaeb. “Our team has been together for a while and I just got really comfortable with the guys which helps a lot too.” The 18-year-old pitcher started playing baseball when he was eight. “Growing up, I always liked sports — basically because all my friends are there,” said Jaeb. “You don’t really think of (baseball) as a sport. You just go there to be around your friends and have some fun.” Jaeb was proud of the team for making it to provincials. “We’re all pretty jacked about it,” said Jaeb. “It was
kind of a relief for everybody. We knew we could do it, but to finally do it, it was a pretty good feeling.” He is excited to go to Nationals in Regina on August 18. “I’m really excited about it, to play new teams,” said Jaeb. “I’ve never been to a national level and I’m just excited to see what other provinces have to offer for baseball .” This year, Jaeb graduated from high school. He hopes to continue playing baseball in the future. “A buddy (Jordan Gerwing) and I got asked to play baseball on Vancouver Island,” said Jaeb. The boys were offered a scholarship by the Nanaimo Mariners. Jaeb explained he plans to take this year off to make some money and hopes to head out to B.C. to claim his scholarship next year.
Dean Jaeb pitches at a game during the Dodgers 2011 season. Humboldt Journal File Photo
Boys commitment to sports pays off Continued from page 28
“It’s a big commitment, especially when you are playing three sports like that, it’s a big commitment,” said Gerwing. “It’s kind of one of the reasons I’m taking the year off is because it’s just steady.” At the start of hockey season, the boys were really busy. “Every day is football practice after school and then hockey practice
is twice a week,” said Meyer. “We went to football, ate and then went to hockey that night... it was tough.” Gerwing agreed with Meyer adding that they couldn’t get a part-time job because of the time commitment of their sports activities. The fact that it was difficult was just a challenge the boys accepted. “It was totally worth it,” said Gerwing. The boys passed on some knowl-
edge to future athletes, encouraging them to continue to work hard, no matter how bad things look. “Keep working hard and never give up,” said Gerwing. “Look at our baseball record. We could have rolled over and gave up after losing so many times, but we just (perserevered).” Both Gerwing and Meyer said they wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did without the support from their family and coaches, especially their
fathers. Gerwing’s father was his baseball coach for many years. “He’s a great coach and he helps me along the way,” said Gerwing. “He’s a great support.” Although Meyer’s dad was never a coach, he was still always there for him. “I’d like to thank my dad just for all the support he gives me and for helping me get better,” said Meyer.
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Page 32 Humboldt journal August 17, 2011
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