Golden moment for Summer Games manager Dustin Asham’s two baseball teams

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This article was published 10/07/2024 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Imagine playing for gold and the two teams on the diamond are West White and West Green.

“That’s the dream situation for us to be playing for gold at the Manitoba Summer Games,” offered Team West’s baseball manager Dustin Asham. “We put together two teams with the best 26 players on both rosters from our tryouts, so it would be nice to see us both in that game in Dauphin.”

The 13-player rosters were announced last Wednesday on Baseball Manitoba’s X, formerly Twitter, with Asham organizing a rare practice Monday night in Brandon with both teams honing their skills together at Simplot Field.

“This is a rarity … it’s hard to coordinate players for a practice when they are playing on four different AAA teams, in four different regions in the west and with two age groups at 13U and 15U,” said Asham. “So, we’re planning a baseball summit on Aug. 9 and 10 for team building and practices, then will bus to Dauphin on Aug. 11 to begin play on Aug. 12.

“I don’t have to worry about having our own practices here because we know these players are getting excellent practices with their respective teams playing AAA ball.”

Asham started the process of finding coaches and preparing for tryouts during the winter months back in 2023 when he was asked to manage the teams. The Manitoba Summer Games will feature eight teams from four regions in the province.

Looking to find the best players for two teams, Asham first needed to hire two coaching staffs drawing on baseball minds in the west region.

“I already had Clark Whelpton in mind as head coach because of our relationship as friends, and playing baseball together in Australia,” he said. “He’s an excellent coach when it comes to working with young players.

“I don’t have to worry about having our own practices here because we know these players are getting excellent practices with their respective teams playing AAA ball.”– Dustin Asham

“We started with development ID camps last September, which ran through to April, using the indoor Triple Crown training facilities. We had about 90 individual athletes coming out, then had 60 for open tryouts from the region in the spring, which we then went down to 31 for the final tryouts, and finally selected the top 26, which we then put 13 on each team.”

Whelpton said the decision who played on each team from players on AAA 13U and 15U with the Brandon Marlins, Pembina Hills, Oildome and Midwest came down to the coaches having an opportunity to take one of the top-two ranked players at each position.

“We each had a chance to ‘draft’ the top-rated player at each position, so the teams would be balanced,” he explained. “For example, when it came to centre field, if I had first choice I’d take the number-one ranked player at that position, then we’d rotate to the next position, and Brad Vandenberge would chose first next and I would get the second-ranked player at that position.”

During the whole process in deciding the 26 players to be used on the two teams, according to Whelpton, it came down to position specific players as the majority can pitch, so the coaches wanted to make sure they had the bodies to cover the infield as well as the outfield.

“Because we have players from four different AAA teams, some players would be learning other positions they might not play on their teams,” said Whelpton. “Our goal in choosing players for our rosters was about balance.

“At this age, your best pitcher is your best centre fielder, so we wanted to make sure we had players who could play a number of positions when it came to our coaching strategy. We didn’t want the two best catchers on the same team.

“We also had to take into account pitch count, so it’s good to have 10 of our 13 who can also pitch in a short tournament over three days of baseball.”

Whelpton is confident pitching will be a key to the two west teams’ successes on the diamond, but there were other factors used to build two lineups.

“There were some tough choices we had to make,” he said. “Size, speed and attitude were some of the factors we used in making our decisions, but I also wanted to take coachable kids. So, for me, skill, speed and attitude were important.”

Coached by Deloraine’s Vandenberghe, with assistants Jordan Robertson from Brandon and Carberry’s Torey Scott, Team West Green’s roster features Aklen Abey (Kenton), Jayce Dales (Boissevain), Burke Dunits (Oakburn), Kevin Elliott (Carberry), Kellen Hockin (Neepawa), Reid Klym (Minnedosa), Easton Pitz (Virden), Sebastien Shakotko (Brandon), Easton Shearer (Wawanesa), Sylas Sicinski (Boissevain), Mackenzie Skelton (Hartney), Dawson Smart (Carberry) and Kyan Vandenberghe (Deloraine).

Coached by Brandon’s Whelpton, with assistants Dale Whelpton of Brandon and Carberry’s Dylan Haney, Team West White’s roster features Gavin Anderson (Glenboro), Beckett Boguski (Brandon), Jude Carr (Neepawa), Madden Cheung (Brandon), Tyler Drummand (Hartney), Jayden Ford (Neepawa), Joshua Sveistrup (Brandon), Everett Hamm (Plumas), Jordan Knox (Carberry), Carter McCannel (Brandon), Camden Moncur (Brandon), Duncan Palmer (Deloraine) and Grayson Rome (Brandon).

Asham acknowledged there’s a reason why his team features players playing 13U and 15U AAA baseball. These players, plus those on the other six teams from across Manitoba, are a pool of players that will be drawn from for Team Manitoba for the Canada Summer Games scheduled in a few years from now when they are older to play on a national stage.

“We’re coaching on these two teams 13 players from high performance teams where these players all excel in their own regions,” he said. “For some, they have to learn new positions because they might play shortstop and pitch, but we have lots of shortstops, not lots of players who might be outfielders.

“Our idea with our two teams is we are there to win gold, but we’re still going to have fun doing it.”

Having known Whelpton since 2014 when they played baseball Down Under, Asham said bringing in the right leadership group for the dugout to work with young players has been key to building two solid teams.

Just ask 13-year-old Carr, who calls Neepawa home and plays on the 15U AAA Midwest team.

“I’ve always played soccer, but started baseball when COVID hit back in ‘20-21,” he said during a water break from practice. “I came to tryouts because I wanted to get better at baseball, meet new people, and play more competitive ball, and being on this team I think I will.”

Carr is what Whelpton and Asham wanted in a player — size, quickness and with a great attitude: A player who is coachable.

“I play shortstop, pitch and play centerfield,” he said of his Midwest 15U team. “I’m good on defence as I don’t let the ball get through me at shortstop, and in centrefields I’m quick, and I’ve got good arm strength to get the ball back into the infield.”

Standing five-foot-seven, Carr is especially adept working on the mound for a player who came to the game later than most of his teammates.

“I’m a calm pitcher,” he said. “I don’t get rattled if I give up a double. I throw a curveball, and 80 per cent of the time I throw my four-seam fastball.”

This fall, once he has put his baseball glove away until next season, Carr said he’s going to try out for the boys’ U15 AAA Yellowhead Chiefs hockey team.

The Manitoba Summer Games run Aug. 11 to 17 with an array of sports offered besides baseball.

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