Carillon contingent key for Team MB U17 baseball bronze

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This article was published 26/08/2024 (252 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a surprise result, Team Manitoba returned from the U17 baseball Canada Cup with a bronze medal.

The team featured a strong contingent of players and staff from the Carillon region. Manitoba’s Chef de Mission at the Fort McMurray, Alta. hosted event was Don Meilleur, who was joined by players Kaden Coldwell, Jackson Penner and Drew Heide.

All made key contributions as Manitoba placed in the medal standings for the first time since 2017.

Meilleur and the rest of the team were forced to wait in Alberta for a couple extra days because of a flight cancellation, but he noted the delay wasn’t so bad with medals around their necks.

“Manitoba is usually not one of the medalists at these events, but we played well and it was really, really good,” Meilleur said.

It was a consistently strong tournament from Manitoba. They were placed outside of the top pool and dominated the lesser competition, finishing top of the group to set up a first versus first showdown with the power pool winners B.C.

In that page playoff style game, Coldwell got the start, throwing the entire game as Meilleur guessed the star pitcher reached 85 miles per hour with his throws.

“He was phenomenal,” Meilleur said, noting the performance should turn scouts heads when it comes to college recruitment.

“(Coldwell) kept the ball down, didn’t really give up any hard hits. He was just magnificent. That was the reason we won that game, because he was lights out for us.”

Coldwell was able to induce a ground-out with runners on the corners in the bottom of the seventh inning to get Manitoba a solid 3-2 win.

The victory didn’t actually mean much for the team, as their pre-tournament ranking meant Manitoba was back up against top-seeded B.C. in the semi-final, and lost 6-0.

Meilleur said Manitoba has recommended a change in the rules so if a B-pool team beats an A-pool team in a qualification match they are treated as the top seed in the semi-finals.

“We were still seeded fifth, because the top four teams in the A-pool get one to four,” Meilleur said.

“We kind of got a raw deal, although that’s how it was set-up, it’s not like they changed it because of us… Other than saving one game, what’s the point of winning that 1 vs 1 game?”

The loss set up a bronze medal match against Saskatchewan, which was won in dramatic fashion, as Manitoba celebrated a walk-off victory.

It wasn’t a spectacular play that brought home the winning run, as St James A’s player Cole Adamson was able to bounce a ball into the infield with runners on second and third. A desperation flip to the catcher was off-line and the run scored to give Team Manitoba a medal.

Meilleur said he was a little surprised to see Saskatchewan not intentionally walk a Manitoba batter to ensure a force out was available at every base, but noted putting a young pitcher in the position where a walk loses the game is a hard choice to make.

The Carillon minor baseball program has grown in the past decade, as more and more elite players are earning spots on provincial teams.

All three Carillon pitchers got starts in key Manitoba wins, with Heide picking up the win in the first game of the tournament, and Penner getting the ball to start the bronze medal game.

Meilleur said Carillon establishing a solid AA program to ensuring more kids can play fall baseball is paying dividends in the AAA program.

“We’ve got really good coaching in the region, that’s first and foremost,” he said.

“Getting these guys to face better competition is helping them. As the region gets stronger, that makes everyone better, because now you’re facing better pitching, you’re facing better hitting, you’re facing better defense. You’re actually getting better, just because everyone around you is getting better.”

Meilleur noted Carillon is now competing with South Central for the best rural baseball program in the province.

Players from the region were busy this weekend as well, helping teams from around the province pick up medals at other events.

Michael Lindsay joined Coldwell on Winnipeg South, winning the gold medal at the 18U Western Canada Baseball Championships.

A pair of junior Sultans, Linden Meilleur and Cedric Lagasse, headed out west with the West Winnipeg A’s of the Winnipeg Senior Baseball League, winning a gold medal at senior Westerns.