Jets back in action for tournament

Times Photo by Meg Noguchi. PITCHING PERFECT: The Jets played against the St. Joseph Falcons during the Keith Jorgensen Tournament on Sunday at Spitz Stadium in Lethbridge.

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

After a weekend off from game action, the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball Jets were on the diamond this past weekend for another fall tournament. This past weekend saw VAB in Lethbridge for the 2025 Keith Jorgensen Memorial Tournament. 

First up for the Jets was a Friday afternoon matchup against the Prairie Baseball Academy. With great weather conditions, the two teams were locked into a pitcher’s duel as neither team was able to muster many runs over seven innings. The Jets took a 1-0 lead into the seventh, but PBA would tie it thanks to an RBI double. PBA was unable to find a winning run from there, and the game ended tied 1-1. The Jets mustered six hits across seven innings and committed no errors. Graham Thiessen had a pair of hits, while Hudson Nikkel, Kaleb Bozek, Noah McIntosh, and Gerrit Vanderwal all had one hit.  Noah Simpson took the ball to start and gave the Jets three solid innings with five punch outs, one walk, and two hits allowed. Charlie McMillan pitched two innings of relief with two strikeouts while not allowing a baserunner. Aiden Sloan finished things off with two innings, with an earned run allowed on two hits and three walks. He also struck out two batters in his appearance. 

In the second game of the tournament, the Jets took on Team SK. Their offence was unstoppable as they put up 14 runs over six innings en route to a 14-3 win. The Jets had 15 hits in the game, with Bozek leading the way with four hits and an RBI. McIntosh and Nikkel each had three hits, while Thiessen had a pair of hits and six RBI. Kaden Carson also had two hits, and Tanner Morris had one hit in the win. Calvin Andersen took the ball to start and gave the Jets three innings with three earned runs on four hits and a walk. He also struck out four hitters in his three innings.  Nolan Tompkins finished the game off as the reliever and went three innings. The pitcher had one strikeout and allowed three hits. 

Later on Saturday, the Jets took to the field to play Bucks Black U18 in a back-and-forth game. Thanks to a four-run sixth inning, the Jets were able to walk away with an 11-10 victory. The Jets’ bats were on fire as they collected 16 hits in the win. Rogan Rivard, Matt Getz, Nikkel, Bozek, Morris, Vanderwal, and Kaz Harris all had two hits in the win. Carson and Thiessen each contributed with one hit. Josh Daloise started the game for VAB and gave the team one inning. Six unearned runs came in on three walks and two hits. He also had two strikeouts in his inning of work. Carter Bevans pitched 2.2 innings of relief and three runs scored (two unearned) on two hits and two walks, and he had four strikeouts. Ben Connolly pitched the final three innings, where he punched out two batters and allowed one earned run on three hits and a walk. 

The weekend wrapped up with a game against the St. Joe’s Falcons. The fourth and fifth innings were unkind to the Jets and they couldn’t regroup as they fell 9-2. Getz and Morris had two of the Jets’ hits while Nikkel had the other. Thiessen pitched the first three innings for Vauxhall and had six strikeouts. One earned run came in on a hit and two walks. McMillan pitched two-thirds of an inning with five runs scored (two earned) on two hits and two walks. Bozek was the final man out of the bullpen and gave VAB 2.1 innings with a strikeout and three earned runs on three walks and two hits. Next up for VAB is a pair of doubleheaders against Badlands. They’re on the road to Oyen on Saturday before returning home on Sunday.