Sports Year in Review: Northeast baseball and softball shines

While the U14A squad finished 17^th out of 21 teams across the country with an 0-6 record in round robin play and a 1-1 record in the playoffs, Head Coach Cheryl Hunt said her team learned valuable lessons as they intend to make their national championship visit an annual occurrence.

“I felt as a coach that we definitely have the talent level to compete at the national level, but the experience and making a few defensive errors determined the winner a lot in these tight, competitive games,” Hunt said. “The experience itself was invaluable because you can watch video clips and see statistics, but until you’re kind of emerged in it, it’s invaluable. That’s what this first opportunity was about, so [the girls] can carry back everything we’ve learned on to other seasons, whether they advance to the U16 category or stay in U14.”

Kirk Kezema, MMSA president, said he and the rest of the association were proud of the girls and staff on the U14A team. Considering it was only the second year the U14 Spirit moved up to the ‘A’ level.

“They’ve worked so hard,” Kezema said. “This is a group of girls that are all 2005-born, except three. Last year when we moved up into ‘A’, they were all first years and they were about the middle of the pack provincially. We knew going into this year that we would be fairly good and we know that we’ve got some top athletes in certain areas that are playing on this team. They’ve lived up to our expectations for sure.”

The U14A Spirit were also able to participate in the Super 8 2019 International Softball Series when they hosted the New Zealand ISA U14 Girls at Spruce Haven Park in July.

In other age groups, the U19 Spirit had its own first by hosting an invitational tournament in June. The U12 Spirit also advanced to the provincial quarter-finals.

The Tisdale U16 Riverdogs have played softball as a group for years, and now have another chance to end their 2019 season on a high note. (submitted photo/Sharolyn Simoneau).

The Tisdale U16 Riverdogs played in the Western Canadian Championships for the first time in 2019.

Despite finishing fourth at provincials, as the Western Canadian Championship only takes in the top two ‘B’ teams in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, with a host team being the ninth participant, the U16 Riverdogs attended with one of the top three Sask. teams opting out. Another top four team in Saskatchewan – Biggar – served as the tournament hosts.

Sharolyn Simoneau, the U16 Riverdogs’ manager, said the Westerns berth carries extra sentimental value with all of her girls sticking together on one team since their U12 playing days.

“Two years ago, these U12’s were together and bonded even more,” Simoneau told northeastNOW. “They get along so well. It’s a fantastic group of parents, everyone is on board and excited.”

Nipawin’s Kyle Froehlich presented with the 2019 baseball Player Of The Year award by Baseball Saskatchewan. (Facebook/Baseball Sask).

On the baseball side of the plate, Nipawin had a few individuals stand out.

Baseball Saskatchewan named 17-year-old Kyle Froehlich, a pitcher and short stop, as 2019 Baseball Player Of The Year.

“My dad and my brother and I would play catch in the backyard and then we got a bat and then it just progressed from there,” Froehlich said. “I won the minor baseball Player of The Year award and seeing the guy that year win the senior award, I was like, that’s an award I want to win. It’s pretty cool to reach that goal and have that achievement.”

Froelich is taking his grade 12 classes in Saskatoon where he lives with some family members and also trains for baseball. He is aiming to get into a junior college program in the United States.

Andie Hidlebaugh (left) and Elly Kerluke (right) represented Nipawin when they suited up for the U21 Saskatchewan Women’s Baseball team during the Invitational Championships in Ottawa. (Facebook/Darryl Gershman)

While one Nipawin ball player has ambitions south of the border, two girls aim to develop a program in Saskatchewan.

Andie Hidlebaugh, an 18-year-old outfielder, and Elly Kerluke, a 17-year-old pitcher and infielder, are both from Nipawin and were the only Northeast Saskatchewan representatives on the U21 Saskatchewan team during the Women’s Invitational Championships in Ottawa.

Team Saskatchewan went winless in four games – although Hidlebaugh was able to take away key experiences from the tournament in Ottawa.

“We played in a semi-pro stadium, so it’s probably the most massive stadium I’ll ever play in,” Hidlebaugh told northeastNOW. “To go to a national tournament like that was absolutely amazing, even though we didn’t have the showing that we might have wanted to, we have the core group of girls that we can develop and take until we’re 21. Hopefully by the time I’m 21 we can get that gold medal.”

Despite playing in a U21 tournament, Team Saskatchewan is a relatively young bunch. They only had one player who’s 19 or older and had two 16-year-olds going up against women across the country who play for the Canadian national team.

Logan Hofmann was drafted in the 35th round of the MLB Draft on June 5. (submitted photo/Logan Hofmann)

Only one player from Saskatchewan was taken in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft: Logan Hofmann, a young pitcher from Muenster who spent the last two seasons playing for the Colby Community College Trojans in the Junior College ranks.

Hofmann was selected in the 35^th round – 1,055^th overall – by the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the teams he worked out for.

“I had a feeling that it could happen, or it couldn’t happen,” Hofmann said. “So I was kind of on edge all day I guess. It was pretty nerve racking but it did happen, and I’m very excited.

“My dad said ‘You just got drafted’, and I said ‘What? it’s not on my phone yet’, because we were both following on my phone,” Hofmann said. “I thought he was joking, but all of a sudden it was on there, and we were all screaming and yelling.”

Over his two seasons at Colby C.C., Hofmann had mainly been a pitcher, starting in 29 of his 35 career appearances. He sports a career record of 16-7 and an earned run average of 4.00. That number was at 3.11 for the 2018-19 season.

However, the number that stuck out was his strikeouts per nine innings (K/9). The stat is a way to evaluate a pitcher’s ability to strikeout batters. For Hofmann, his K/9 is 11.81 for his career, highlighted by a 12.85 K/9 in 2018-19. His total strikeouts (128) were fourth in Division One of the Junior Circuit.

The young pitcher is committed to Northwestern State University in Louisiana for next season, meaning if he doesn’t sign a contract with the Cardinals, he’ll continue his college baseball career there.

(Submitted photo/Crystal Gaja).

Looking ahead to 2020, the University of South Dakota (USD) women’s softball team will have some northeast Saskatchewan flavour for their next season,

Carrot River native and catcher Jaden Gaja received an athletic scholarship to play for the Coyotes.

Last year, with some help from her coaches at Tommy Douglas Collegiate’s softball academy in Saskatoon at the softball academy, Gaja caught the eye of the USD women’s softball coach. Gaja was brought to Vermillion, South Dakota to see the school and she said she immediately fell in love and knew it was the right school for her.

“Always believe in yourself, and work hard for anything you want to achieve,” Gaja said. “Because even though you come from, say Carrot River, a small town, or wherever you live, there’s opportunities all over if you just put your mind to it.”

Gaja said she is looking to try out for Team Canada at some point as well and hope to continue ball past university.

with files from Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff and Angie Rolheiser/northeastNOW Staff

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow

by Aaron Schulze

Sports Year in Review: Northeast baseball and softball shines

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