Jets take on Webber Academy

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

Last week, the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball Jets were back in action as they took on Webber Academy. In a pair of doubleheaders in Calgary, the Jets looked to add a few more wins to their spring total.

The first doubleheader went on April 17 and the Jets came out fast with three runs in the third en route to a 5-0 win. Langdyn Cummins led the way with a pair of hits, Callum Thomson had a double, and Ben Simmons, Noah McIntosh, Jaxon George, Rogan River, Matt Getz, and Jacob Austin all contributed with a hit. Sheamus Ryan was back on the mound and gave the Jets six innings with five strikeouts while only allowing two hits. Kaleb Boezk finished things off in the seventh with a clean inning allowing no hits.

“Yeah, we went to Calgary, and it was a good series. In the first game of the series, Sheamus Ryan pitched and Bozek came in relief and they were exceptional. It was cold and windy that day and they did what you need to do when the conditions are like that — they just attacked the strike zone on every aspect. We had some timely hits before we knew that the game was over. So hats off to our pitching staff on that one,” explained Les McTavish, head coach of the Jets.

The final game of the day was a bit more hectic as the Jets fell down 1-0 in the first before accumulating a 5-1 win over the next few innings. Despite that lead, Webber battled back with three in the sixth and then was able to walk it off in the seventh and take it 6-5. Aaron Fuzesy had two hits, Rivard notched a triple and a single, and Cummins, Thomson, Simmons, George, and Graham Thiessen all had a hit in the game. Hudson Kozicki went five strong innings with six strikeouts as the starter while allowing two hits, a walk, and one earned run. Carter Bevans pitched two-thirds of an inning with two punch outs, four hits, and three earned runs. Calum Andersen was the final pitcher called from the bullpen and went one inning with three hits allowed and one earned run.

“Game two, we had another good start from Kozicki and then we just kind of scuffled. And to their defence, Webber swung the bat pretty well in the sixth and seventh inning and ended up knocking us off 4-3. So that was a little bit of a stinger to end,” said McTavish. “We played 12 great innings and then just had two tough innings. I don’t think it was a matter of us not necessarily playing well as much as they just executed what they needed to do on Webber’s side.”

Looking to rebound from the loss, the Jets and Webber met up on April 18 to round out the week. In a low-scoring affair, the Jets were able to rack up seven hits on their way to a 3-0 victory. Simmons had two of the hits while Thomson, Fuzesy, Getz, Austin, and Bozek had one each. Thiessen got the ball to start and was masterful from start to finish as the right-hander pitched all seven innings. He punched out seven Webber batters while only allowing two hits.

“On Good Friday, we came back and played two really complete ball games again. The offence wasn’t great all weekend, but we pitched it extremely well again on Friday. Graham Thiessen pitched and started on a complete game and was dominant,” added McTavish.

The final game of the week for VAB was another close game that went down to the wire. After being tied through seven, the teams went into the eighth where the Jets added a pair of runs to lead 4-2. In the bottom of the inning, Webber threatened and was able to score one run but the Jets held them off for a 4-3 victory. Aiden Sloan was the starter for VAB, going three innings with six strikeouts, three hits allowed, and one earned run. Cedric LeBlanc got the call from the bullpen and gave the Jets a single inning with a strikeout. Charlie McMillan pitched a clean inning with only one hit allowed. Kaden Coldwell pitched the final three innings of the game, giving up four hits, two earned runs, and striking out two batters.

“And then the second game, Sloan, LeBlanc, McMillan, and then Caldwell threw a great game to finish off the weekend,” said McTavish. “So overall, it was an awesome weekend.”

While the offence was up and down, the Jets are down a few hitters. Alex Laurence is recovering from injury and Easton Kitura is off with Team Canada. With two holes, in their lineup, the coaching staff has been experimenting with some different formations to see how best to fill those gaps.

“Kitura is down in Florida with Team Canada and then Laurence has had a bad hammy for two weeks. So that’s two of our top hitters that we haven’t had for two weeks and we were still very competitive,” stated McTavish. “I’m a big believer in trying to have your top couple of guys 1-2-3 — they get more bats if they’re 1-2, right? It’s great to have RBI guys in 4 or 5 but if you have nobody on base, there are no RBIs. We tried a couple of different guys in the leadoff spot. Callum Thomson kind of solidified himself in the 2-hole and we had Cummins and Rivard both hit leadoff. Both did a good job — both run well and are kind of table-setter-type players. It gives other players opportunities and a lot of the guys stepped up, for sure.”

While the leadoff position has seen some radical changes throughout the past several years, the Jets still like to see a touch of speed in that position. But the most important aspect they look for in a good leadoff hitter is someone who gets on base and puts pressure on the pitcher and defence.

“In our world, I would like guys that get on base. I still like speed up there and we have a team that can run. We have several guys that run well, so I’m still a believer that you don’t want somebody that’s going to clog the bases up there. It’s not so much stealing bases — it’s as much about going first to third and being able to score from second on a single, as anything. That’s our most important aspect — you don’t need to be the fastest guy on the team, but you need to be able to move and run,” explained McTavish.

This coming weekend is the annual Prairie Baseball Academy Showcase Classic tournament. With games being held in Vauxhall and Lethbridge over the weekend, the biggest challenge looks to be the forecast. The rain the past few days has wreaked havoc on the fields, so all teams are hoping for a little sun and warm weather.

“The tournament’s supposed to open up Thursday. We don’t play until Friday and both games are at Jets Stadium. The rest of the tournament’s in Lethbridge, so we’ll see,” stated McTavish. “The field is absolutely soaked right now. We need Mother Nature to do some work tomorrow and Thursday so we’re good to go for Friday.”