By JOE McFARLAND

It was a celebration for every Alberta community from Acme to Youngstown and everyone all around.

Athletes, coaches, managers, umpires, volunteers and more were recognized during the 2023 Baseball Alberta Awards in Edmonton on Nov. 24.

The event, which coincided with Baseball Alberta’s Annual General Meeting and Baseball Alberta Summit, highlighted some of the major accomplishments and efforts over the past year.

From individual program growth to hosting major national championships, executive director Danielle Moffat says 2023 will be a year to remember for the organization.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today without all of our amazing volunteers,” she said. “The ones who are here now, the ones who came before us, and the ones we are mentoring for the future.”

With long-time umpire Jeff Chipley serving as emcee, it was a night to remember for many in attendance.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE

The awards ceremony started with presentations for umpires, coaches, off-field managers and volunteers.

One of the highlights was the presentation of the Baseball Alberta Life Member Award, which went to Ron Van Keulen.

Having been involved in baseball at a number of levels in Cochrane and Calgary, he served with the Alberta Amateur Baseball Council as well as president of Baseball Alberta between 2017 and 2020.

Congratulations to Ron Van Keulen of Calgary for being presented with the Baseball Alberta Life Member Award!#BAAwards2023 pic.twitter.com/SDtOByimUn
— Baseball Alberta (@BaseballAlberta) November 26, 2023

“I’m a firm believer that if you don’t like something, speak up and jump onto boards,” Van Keulen said. “If you want to be changing something, don’t sit in the wings and type about or say things unless you’re willing to do something about it.”

He says he was surprised by the recognition, as he felt like he was simply trying to stay the course, especially heading into the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s a lot easier to hand them out than it is to accept them, that’s for sure,” he laughed. “You don’t think internally as to, ‘Oh, I did a decent job at something,’ and getting recognized for that.”

Among the other winners were Sheri Teierle, who claimed the Baseball Canada Volunteer of the Year for her work in building up the Sherwood Park Minor Baseball Association to over 1,000 athletes, and Brandon Strocki, winner of the President’s Award for his work in boosting the registration and awareness of the umpire program across the province.

SUCCESS ON AND OFF THE FIELD

Each year, Baseball Alberta hands out a number of major scholarships and bursaries to help athletes with their post-secondary aspirations.

This year was no different, with several great academic and athletic performances highlighted.

Then it was onto the individual awards and, as it turned out, it was a big year for Jason Chatwood and the St. Joseph Baseball Academy as two of their players were named Baseball Alberta Players of the Year.

Corbin Lochhead walked away with the 18U ‘AAA’ Player of the Year Award after a stellar campaign in the Baseball Alberta Elite League (BAEL) with the Neutral Hills Wranglers.

He says fully committing to baseball and consistency paid dividends.

“I’ve learned that when emotions affect who you are on the field, it sets you back in a way,” Lochhead said.

“When you throw all the emotions out the window and give 100 percent effort and respect to everyone out there, I think it’s the best thing you can do.”

For the first time, a Baseball Alberta Elite League 18U ‘AAA’ Player of the Year was also named, and that honour went to Red Deer CarStar Braves shortstop Matthew Murray.

Matthew Murray of the @RedDeerBraves takes home the BAEL Player of the Year Award presented at the annual @BaseballAlberta Awards!

Congrats Matthew!#OneGoal pic.twitter.com/RGAveE8Zwl
— BAEL (@BAEliteLeague) November 26, 2023

He led the league in batting average and finished in the top-five in runs batted in, earning him a spot on Baseball Alberta’s roster for the Canada Cup as well as a commitment to Colby Community College.

“It’s been a grind, but it’s awesome,” Murray said of the acknowledgement. “(The key was) just staying disciplined with everything outside of the game like getting practice in and that kind of stuff.”

GIRLS GOT GAME

It was a year to remember, as well, for the girls and women’s programming with Baseball Alberta.

The 14U team claimed the gold medal at nationals in Kamloops while the 16U and Women’s Open teams won bronze at their respective championships.

So picking winners of individual awards became difficult with all of the team success.

READ MORE: Summer of Bronze

In the ceremony, Abby Szilagyi of Okotoks was named the 14U Girls Player of the Year, while Edmonton’s Claire Hingley picked up the 16U award and Calgary’s Tyra Stanich was named the Women’s Open winner.

We are super proud of our Girls / Women’s Award and Scholarship winners for 2023! 📸 #TeamAB pic.twitter.com/7K3er4YDQp
— Team Alberta Baseball (@TeamAlbertaBSB) November 27, 2023

“All of the younger girls have so much potential,” Stanich said of her bronze-medal winning team, which many considered to be a young roster. “We have lots of room to grow and that’s exciting – plus there’s a lot of skill coming up as well.”

ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE

To put the wraps on the event, the final awards of the evening were for the Associations of the Year.

The Small Association of the Year was won by Winfield Minor Ball, while Lloydminster Minor Baseball was awarded the Medium Association of the Year and the Fort McMurray Minor Baseball Association earned the Large Association of the Year crown.

“On behalf of FMMBA it’s truly a honour to receive this award tonight. An award like this shows the commitment and passion of the players, coaches, umpires and families of the FMMBA. Thank you to everyone that supported the 2023 season.”-@MichaelMayuk pic.twitter.com/mpKILCFInl
— Fort McMurray Minor Baseball (@FMMBA) November 26, 2023

Moffat admits it’s been a challenge to attract and retain volunteers to work with the associations following the COVID-19 pandemic, but their efforts paid off with growth in many facets of the game, including the Challenger and Rally Cap programs.

She adds many associations saw increasing numbers of registrants, while provincial and national tournaments were smashing successes.

“It doesn’t matter how big or how small, we just want to include kids in playing this sport,” she said.

“The things they have been able to overcome and to be able to provide baseball on the whole to the entire province, we’re really happy and super-proud of them.”

Looking ahead, Moffat says 2024 will be a year to build off previous successes by fine-tuning some of their processes and staying in lock-step with Baseball Canada’s new strategic plan.

“We really want to be intentional with decisions that we make,” she said. “We are set up to do a governance review to make sure we are providing a safe and welcoming environment for all of our athletes, coaches and volunteers.”

Here is the full list of winners from the Nov. 24 awards ceremony:

Junior Umpire of the Year – Levi Wagner – Lacombe

Murray Service Umpire of the Year – Matt Beaudry – Sherwood Park

Umpire Hall of Fame – Stephane Dupont – Calgary

Ted Rudd Minor Coach of the Year – Blake Babki – Lethbridge

Baseball Canada Grassroots Coach of the Year – Josh Bryshuk – Mannville

Baseball Alberta Life Member Award – Ron Van Keulen – Calgary

Wally A. Footz Builders Award – Dennell Anderson – Elk Point

Baseball Canada Volunteer of the Year – Sheri Teierle – Sherwood Park

Off-Field Manager of the Year – ‘A’ – Trevor Vance – Slave Lake

Off-Field Manager of the Year – ‘AA’ – Amy Lithgow – Airdrie

Off-Field Manager of the Year – ‘AAA’ – Myra Mayuk – Fort McMurray

President’s Award – Brandon Strocki – St. Paul

Ron Hayter Bursary – Brady Moore (Leduc), Justin Davidchuk (Edmonton) and Stefan Podilsky (Edmonton)

Millie Warwick/Betty Carveth Dunn Bursary – Piper Wiklund – Edmonton

Carl Linden Bursary – Brienne Lirette – Sherwood Park

Bob White Memorial Scholarship – Holden Craig – Fort Saskatchewan

Doris Taylor Scholarship – Ava Weeks – St. Albert

Gordie Wilson Memorial Award – Wyatt Webber – Athabasca

11U ‘A’ Player of the Year – Jaycob Graham – Red Deer Braves

11U ‘AA’ Player of the Year – Landon Sweeney – Sherwood Park Athletics Gold

13U ‘A’ Player of the Year – Jared Mercier – Thorsby Bandits

13U ‘AA’ Player of the Year – Ryley Steele – Consort Cubs

13U ‘AAA’ Player of the Year – Ethan Renaud – Okotoks Dawgs

15U ‘A’ Player of the Year – Aiden Brulotte – High Prairie Sauce

15U ‘AA’ Player of the Year – Zach MacDonald – Stettler Storm

15U ‘AAA’ Player of the Year – Cole Dickinson – Calgary Bisons Black

18U ‘A’ Player of the Year – Tanner Werenka – Provost Pilots

18U ‘AA’ Player of the Year – Brett Coulombe – Black Gold 47’s Gold

18U ‘AAA’ Player of the Year – Corbin Lochhead – Neutral Hills Wranglers

18U Elite League Player of the Year – Matthew Murray – Red Deer CarStar Braves

14U Girls Player of the Year – Abby Szilagyi – Okotoks

16U Girls Player of the Year – Claire Hingley – Edmonton

Women’s Open Player of the Year – Tyra Stanich – Calgary

Association of the Year (Small) – Winfield Minor Ball

Association of the Year (Medium) – Lloydminster Minor Baseball

Association of the Year (Large) – Fort McMurray Minor Baseball