15U Marlins growing into bantam baseball

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This article was published 07/06/2019 (2401 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new local baseball team with a lot of familiar faces is finding life in a higher age group isn’t quite as welcoming.

The Brandon 15-and-under Marlins have a record of 4-8 as they adjust to the bantam level in the Winnipeg AAA Baseball Association. Head coach Dwayne Stone said age isn’t the only challenge his youngsters are facing this season.

“It’s a big adjustment this year,” Stone said. “Obviously we’re a younger group in the WABA league, and we’re playing with wooden bats, and there’s a huge difference playing with those wooden bats and full swings, rather just half-swings and an aluminum bat would carry it. We’re having a bit of a struggle there, but it’s great that we had some good coaching last year and we continue to work on driving the pitches hard.

“Guys are used to seeing fast pitchers so we’re able to keep up with it.”

A year ago, the 13-and-under squad went 18-2 in league play, won provincials and then fell in the semifinals of the western Canadian championships they hosted at Simplot Millennium Park.

This is the first time a Brandon team has played in the 15U AAA league, and it comes one season after the Marlins made their debut in the 13U loop.

Nolan Chastko is one of the players who moved up from last summer’s 13U team. The hard-throwing right-handed pitcher has found it to be a bit of an adjustment.

“It’s definitely a little bit harder but I think we’re more prepared because we’re used to the same kind of baseball that we played last year and did pretty well,” Chastko said. “Wood bats are definitely a big change too but we’ve been hitting the ball pretty well lately and getting used to it now.”

Remarkably, the only second-year player is 2003-born Dreyson Potter. All the others — Chastko, JT Martine, Carter Dittmer, Porter Ewert, Luc Lepper, Nash Stone, Dylan Schrader, Jackson Alcroft, Jacob Thornitt and Skylar Ramsey — are 2004-born bantam rookies.

The team and the coaching staff, which also includes Todd Chastko and Jason Schrader, knew it would be a different season than last year. They see it as a chance to build confidence for next season, when the bulk of the team will be in the second of the two years in the age group.

“Our goal this year was if we were able to play .500 ball, that would be a good learning experience and carry us forward to next year when they’re majors,” Stone said.

According to Stone, the team’s strength lies in its defence, something the Marlins work hard at in practice. They’re also good on the mound, but are continuing to learn at the plate.

“We’ve seen some really good pitching from all of our guys,” Stone said. “Nolan Chastko throws a hard, heavy ball and that’s been really good for us. Maybe the biggest improvement for us is going to be continuing on our hitting and just picking our spots and trying to drive that ball. It’s a little heavier bat and we do have a tendency to look for the fences rather than just making contact.”

The league is governed by strict pitch count rules that designate a different rest period for five different levels of pitches. Nolan Chastko believes that’s one of his team’s strengths.

“Our hitting is starting to roll around and our pitching is very deep,” he said. “Everyone on the team can pitch, which is good. Our defence is pretty good, I would say.”

Every coach wants to see steady improvement in their players, and Stone has noticed that they are making strides mentally.

“We’ve seen some growth in the personalities and emotions of the boys,” he said. “It’s a continuous learning curve where we’re trying to say, and I know it’s difficult at this age and they’re all competitive and they all want to do well, but the biggest thing we’ve seen is ‘Guys, forget that last pitch, forget that last at-bat and let’s go forward to what’s next.’ And we’ve seen some real growth there and that’s been super positive.”

Although the results haven’t materialized in the wins column just yet, Stone said the chance to play in the province’s top league at the age group is a time consuming but fulfilling endeavour.

“It’s a big commitment from the boys and their parents,” he said. “We play hard both during the week and on the weekends, and it pushes them hard. It’s nice to see the recognition from their peers. Being part of that WABA league has really opened up a lot, and we’re so fortunate to be able to play in there and they come out here every weekend and we travel back and forth. That’s been a real blessing for Brandon I think.”

The regular season wraps on July 12, with Brandon’s final game on June 23.

Three of the Winnipeg-based WABA teams will advance to provincials — not including the Winnipeg host — plus six of the eight rural teams at a qualifying tournament in Altona from July 19 to 21.

Provincials take place in Winnipeg at Optimist Park from Aug. 2 to 4.

“We’re being positive,” Stone said. “We’re all competitors and we want to do as well as we can. We knew we weren’t going to finish 18-2 as we did last year just being that we’re the small guys on the block. As long as we can get to .500 baseball, and hopefully a little bit better. We really want to make the provincials and if we can just make sure that the boys leave in a better position at the end of this year than when they came in, then I’ll feel like the coaching staff has done its job.”

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