Prospects good, could be better
Elimination from playoffs looms, again
The prospect of having a successful Western Major Baseball League team in Edmonton is brighter, but there’s still a long way to go.
The Edmonton Prospects won more games this season than the last two years combined, but are still on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs for the sixth straight year.
They trail Okotoks, which is in third place in the West Division, by four games with five games to play after Tuesday’s dramatic 11-10 comefrom-behind victory over the Dawgs at Telus Field.
The Prospects finish their home schedule with 7 p.m. games Friday and Saturday against the Moose Jaw Miller Express.
Edmonton’s 16-25 record — the team’s best showing since posting an 18-28 record in 2009 — is weighed down by a disappointing 4-12 performance since American Blake Mitchell threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout on Canada Day.
“He threw a gem and the guys played well and the atmosphere was electric in there that day, with 6,000 (people) in the ballpark,” said managing partner Pat Cassidy.
That crowd was a one-off for the Prospects, who are second in the league in attendance with 16,907 spectators in 20 home dates, but their average is usually around 600 fans. They have easily surpassed last year’s total of 11,500, though.
“All in all, it’s been pretty good at the turnstiles. I mean, 98 per cent of our crowd is walk-up,” said Cassidy, who wants to build a large seasonticket base in the future.
“One of the biggest challenges we had was just getting noticed,” he said. “I think we’re starting to get noticed.”
It helps that the Prospects have been better on the field.
“Overall, when I look back at our season, we were competitive, we just weren’t competitive enough,” said manager Ray Brown. “I’m happy with the local guys. They’ve done a good job.”
Brown was given a mandate “to build locally as much as we can without compromising too much, because we still have to put a competitive product on the field,” said Cassidy.
Pitcher Brendan Wiun, whom the Prospects nominated for the WMBL’s Canadian rookie of the year and rookie of the year, has been superb. He has a 5-0 record with a 2.62 ERA in 48 innings, winning four of six starts.
Shortstop Derek Shedden (.256, 13 RBI, 11 stolen bases) also has been impressive while six-foot-five pitcher Noah Gapp from St. Albert “has done some very good stuff for us,” according to Brown.
Left fielder Mackenzie Parlow, from Qualicum Beach, B.C., leads the team with a .345 batting average.
Unfortunately, a combination of injuries and disciplinary issues reduced the Prospects roster from 27 players to 17.
“We’ve made way too many errors, just catch-throw errors, basic errors that you wouldn’t see in midget baseball,” said Brown. “That’s disappointing.
“We’ve had to play some guys out of position because we needed to and they haven’t adapted real well. I’m thinking if you’re a baseball player, you should at least be adaptable.”
The biggest loss was Leduc first baseman/designated hitter Bryn Redhead, who hit .362 with 12 RBI in his first 15 games but hasn’t played since June 30 after hurting his wrist.
“He was sort of our rock in the middle of the lineup and people fed off of him,” said Cassidy.
Mitchell (elbow) is also hurt.
“For sure, next year, we’ll do a better job of recruiting the import players to make our team a little bit stronger,” said Brown, who wants to select more “good people” after having to send “some problems” home this summer.
Cassidy also wants the team to target older college players, too, after going with mostly freshmen and sophomores this year.
“You can have the best coaches on the planet coaching your team, but it’s a twomonth season,” Cassidy said. “You can give them the best advice in the world, but it still doesn’t happen overnight.”
Cassidy, who has owned the Prospects since 2007, has to operate on a year-toyear basis because of all the uncertainty over the future of Telus Field and the Capitals, a team currently in limbo that holds the lease at the facility.
“It makes it hard to really plan for the future, not knowing that you’re here for sure,” said Cassidy, whose Prospects are a sub-tenant of the Capitals on a game-bygame basis.
“It would be nice to know that you’ve got a three-year window, four-year window that you can plan on.”
Brown and his players are running a youth camp at Telus Field this week for 82 players.
They also provided 45 minutes of skill instruction for a St. Albert Cardinals pee wee AA team, the fourth youth team they’ve worked with this season.