Senior 1st baseman and RHP – JC Paquin committed on an athletic scholarship to Division 1 JUCO Middle Georgia College Warriors in Cochran, Georgia. 

Coach McTavish had this to say about Paquin, “JC has made huge strides not only as a baseball player but, overall in his development as a young man this year.  JC has probably our biggest adjustment in a programs short history with English being his second language.  He responded very well with everything that is thrown at him and we are certainly going to miss the power LHH bat in the middle of our line-up.

For more information on Middle Georgia follow the link: http://www.mgc.edu/athletics/baseball/

Thunder Bay, Ontario – Brandon Petite, Lionel Morill, and JC Paquin are 3 of the final 25 invitees for the Canadian Junior National Team.  The summer tour begins in Thunder Bay, Ontario (July 13-16th) with games vs the Thunder Bay All-stars and Chinese Taipei, followed by Brandon, Manitoba (July 17-18) vs Chinese Taipei, Winnipeg (July 19), and Okotoks, Alberta (July 21-23) vs Okotoks Dawgs, USA, and Chinese Taipei.  The final cuts will be made (18 man roster) on July 22 and 23.  If they make the final roster the World Junior Championships take place July 25-August 3 in Edmonton, Alberta.  For more details please follow the Baseball Canada website – www.baseball.ca.

THe Vauxhall Academy of Baseball is proud to release the 2008/2009 roster.  Entering into the Jets 3rd season will see the roster have 13 seniors (grade 12) and 8 juniors (grade 11).   Please see below for details.

Returning student-athletes:

1.  Steven Inch – RHP – senior – Edmonton, Alberta

2.  Tyler Vavra – RHP – senior – Calgary, AB

3.  Tyson Denham – RHP/OF – junior – Caroline, AB

4.  Brandon Petite – RHP – senior – Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

5.  Josh Stephenson – C – senior – Strathmore, AB

6.  Jean – Guy Bilodeau – C – senior – Winnipeg, Manitoba

7.  Adam Nelubowich – 3B/OF – senior – Stoney Plain, AB

8.  Cole Stober – RHP – senior – Hays, AB

9.  Jamin Heller – RHP – senior – Lethbridge, AB

10.  Daniel Worb – 2B/SS – senior – Winnipeg, Manitoba

11. Austin Cooper – LHP – senior – Saskatoon, SK

Incoming recruits:

12.  Brant Hittel – C/OF – junior – Medicine Hat, AB

13.  Jordan Wong – RHP/1B – senior – Calgary, AB

14.  Kym Barthel – SS/2B – junior – Lethbridge, AB

15.  Victor Caruso – LHP – junior – Vauxhall, AB

16.  Derek Grubel – RHP/OF/3B – junior – Lethbridge, AB

17.  Ben Dartnell – LHP – junior – Winnipeg, Manitoba

18.  Mike Washburn – OF/3B/1B – senior – Fredricton, NB

19.  Tyler Hayes – SS/2B – senior – Calgary, AB

20.  Taylor Simmonds – LHP/OF – St. Albert, AB

21.  Shane Zimmer – OF/3B/2B – St. Albert, AB

Coach McTavish had this to say about the 2008/2009 roster, “it should be interesting again with a whole new group of guys coming in.  Both Coach K and I are very exciting about the leaders we have returning and feel that the newcomers will fit in very well.  Our program is very demanding both in the classroom and on the field and we feel that the new student-athletes will meet and rise above the challenges.  The entire Jets program and Vauxhall high school look forward to welcoming these new young men into the Jets family.”

 

Fraser Institute recently released a school report card comparing performance of Alberta high schools and Vauxhall High School ranked 7th overall! For more information please read the Fraser Institute Press Release. Also check out the chart showing the Top performing Alberta high schools for 2008.

The VAB is proud to announce that OF Lionel Morrill (Edmonton, AB) was drafted in the 24th round by the Minnesota Twins – 726th overall.  Lionel becomes the 2nd player in the VAB’s short 2 year history to be drafted.  OF – Cody Phipps was drafted by the Houston Astros last year in the 28th round. 

The entire Academy organization and the town of Vauxhall is very proud of Lionel’s accomplishment.  The Twins now have until August 15th, 2008 to sign Morrill to a professional contract otherwise he will attend the College of Southern Idaho in the fall and will be able to re-enter the draft in 2009.  This years draft was dominated by college players with only 32% of the players drafted being in high school.

Lionel Morrill has moved up on Bob Elliots (Baseball Writer with the Toronto Sun) draft list.  Elliot ranks all Canadian players, college and high school, for the upcoming draft.  Morrill has moved up to 6th among all active Canadian players eligible for the draft – both college and high school players.  Morrill is also ranked as the 5th ranked Canadian HS prospect by Baseball America.  Dale Anderson, Tanner Craswell and JC Paquin are also listed as players to follow for the draft.  The MLB 1st year Player Draft takes place June 5th and 6th from Disney’s Wide World of Sports.  Canadian Brett Lawrie is expected to be a 1st round draft after a very successful trip to the Dominican Republic.

Click here for the complete draft list: http://bp2.blogger.com/_k7ZUyjiV4CM/SECzVGXos5I/AAAAAAAAAC0/rilBMn_G6mk/s1600-h/May+31+blog.JPG 

The entire Tommy Tallef tournament has been cancelled due to poor weather.  It rained all night long and is raining today.  Currently, we are working on other options for games but, the forcast looks poor and the fields are in poor condition.  These will be posted online as soon as they become available.

The Vauxhall Academy of Baseball is very proud to announce that 4 current student-athletes will be travelling with the Canadian National Junior Team to the Dominican Republic May 21st – 30th, 2008.

THis is one of the final legs of the tryout process for the final roster which will compete at the 2008 World Junior Baseball Championships in Edmonton, Alberta July 25th – August 2nd. 

Brandon Petite – RHP – Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Dale Anderson – Inf – Strathmore, Alberta, Lionel Morrill – OF – Edmonton, Alberta, and JC Paquin – 1B/RHP – Montreal, Quebec will join 25 other athletes in their quest for a final roster spot. 

The Junior National Team will take on Major League affiliated teams of the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners.

For more details please visit Baseball Canada’s website – www.baseball.ca for more details.

LHP – Kyle Muzechka of Vegreville, Alberta has committed to play for the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs for the fall of 2008.  Muzechka will be attending either the University of Lethbridge of Lethbridge Community College and is undecided on his major currently.  Kyle will be playing for recently Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame inductee – Blair Kubicek and will be competing for a Canadian College Baseball Championship.  PBA has a tremendous track record of developing Canadian players for the rigors of college baseball and sending them on to very good 4 year schools in the United States.

Coach McTavish had this to say about Muzechka, “Kyle has did everything we ask in our athletes while attending our program.  He is a good student, quality citizen, and puts a tremendous amount of hard work into his development as an athlete.  Kyle is a great fit for PBA and I think he has a bright future.  He is a LHP that knows how to pitch and over time should develop into a very quality left handed arm for the Dawgs.”

The VAB would like to congratulate Kyle on his committment to PBA and we wish him all the success!