Québec, QC-Baseball Canada recognized its best at the annual awards banquet this past weekend in Québec City. The banquet was in conjunction with the four-day long Baseball Canada Fall Convention hosted by Baseball Québec at the beautiful Fairmont Le Château Frontenac.
Here’s a rundown of the awards and those who received them:
Baseball Canada and Major League Baseball Volunteer of the Year Award – Gary Trudell
Born into a baseball family where his grandfather and father both played professionally, Gary has been actively involved with the game for over 50 years. With roots both in Ontario and BC, Gary has made an impact on each community that he has been a part of. Take for instance Chatham, Ontario where he worked with the executive to host tournaments to promote baseball, or Kamloops, BC where he developed the “Tournament of Champions” in 1991 that still runs today.
In 2000 Gary joined the BC Minor Board of Directors in a role that he still serves today in addition to becoming BC Minor’s ‘Vancouver’ Island rep in 2005 where approximately 4,000 players reside today.
Recently, Gary has had to battle health issues that would make many give-up their volunteer duties. Not Gary though, who has maintained his dedication to baseball and remained passionate about his volunteer work. It is this attitude that further defines the high level of integrity, selflessness and pride that Gary carries as a person.
Dick Willis Memorial Award for Umpire of the Year – Jon Oko
Jon began umpiring at the tender age of 14 in Westlock, Alberta and has spent the past 18 years devoting his time not only to officiating games, but also developing and instructing young umpires of the future. Rising through the umpiring ranks as a teenager, Jon worked his first provincial championship in 1998, achieved his level 4 certification in 2000 and worked his first National Championship in 2002.
In 1998 and 1999, Jon worked diligently with a small group of Alberta umpires to prepare the updated Baseball Canada Umpire Positioning Manual that is still in use today. Jon has also assumed numerous administrative roles at the provincial and national level including Provincial Supervisor of Umpires in Alberta and as a member of Baseball Canada’s LTOD committee.
On the field, Jon has worked many Provincial and National championships, and earlier this year worked his first International event at the IBAF 18U World Championships in Seoul where a tournament highlight was a semi-final game between Japan and the United States where Jon was assigned first base duties.
Jimmy Rattlesnake Award – Bradi Wall
After undergoing knee surgery two years ago that caused her to miss the 2010 World Cup, Bradi made her World Cup debut with Team Canada in Edmonton. Steady, is the best term to describe Bradi as she made all of the routine plays on defence and came up with some web gems at other times in starting all nine World Cup games at the ever-important shortstop position.
Bradi’s ‘steadiness’ carried over on offence too as she provided stability at the bottom of the order hitting .387 with three doubles, two triples and 11 RBIs. A highlight in Bradi’s tournament came in an extra-innings win over Team USA where she cracked a bases clearing double in the top of the 8th as part of a 7-run outburst for Team Canada.
Women’s National Team MVP – Stéphanie Savoie
Batting in the 3-hole for Team Canada at the World Cup in Edmonton last summer, Stéphanie was the centrepiece of a Canadian offence that averaged over 11 runs per game. Stéphanie was on fire from the beginning of the tournament as she went a combined 6-for-6 with 3 doubles and 4 RBIs in wins over Chinese Taipei and Venezuela to open the tournament.
In the bronze medal game against Australia, Stéphanie went 2-for-5 including a bases loaded triple as Canada captured their fourth World Cup medal since the tournaments inception in 2004.
In eight World Cup games Stéphanie batted .520 and drove in a team high 12 runs en route to being named the tournament’s All-Star catcher. This accomplishment is even more incredible considering that this was Stéphanie’s first season behind the plate.
Lionel Ruhr Coach of the Year Award - Maxime Hockhoussen
Maxime has made a significant impact on Baseball Québec since entering the high performance coaching scene in 2007. Starting with a Head Coaching position in the Midget AAA program, moving to Head Coach of the Québec Midget AAA team and now serving as Assistant Coach with Les Ailes du Québec, Maxime has won two silver medals and a bronze during his time coaching provincial teams. His dynamic approach and commitment to the game are attributes that are known to rub off on his players when they play the game.
A level 3 coach with aspirations of attaining his level 4 in the near future, Maxime is also the Technical Director and Head Coach of the Sport-Études program at De Mortangne High School on the South Shore of Montréal. Maxime has witnessed a steady growth in the program since its inception in 2008 where today over 90 players participate.
A role model for young people in Québec, Maxime reflects the image of how Baseball Québec wants the sport portrayed to both players and coaches in the province.
Province of the Year Award - Alberta
Alberta ranked in the upper-half of 6 out-of-the 7 categories used to determine Province of the Year. They finished 1st in Governance, 2nd in Player Registration and 3rd in both Grassroots Programs and Officials Development. Alberta finished 4th in the Championships category after winning Gold at Midget Nationals, while taking Bronze at the Senior Men event and Bronze at the Senior Women event that was held in Spruce Grove. Alberta also placed nine players combined on Baseball Canada’s three National Teams.
This marks the second time that Alberta has won this award with the last coming in 2004 when they were named Province of the Year along with Québec.
Baseball Québec also handed out their annual awards and inducted three members into their Hall of Fame. National Team Pitching Coach and former Montréal Expo Denis Boucher, Miles Wolff and the late Hughes Beaudoin all took their rightful place in the Hall of Fame.
