2011 DOUGLAS COLLEGE Royals Spring Outlook

  Moving into a new era for Royals Baseball at Douglas College, 1^st year Head Coach Cavanagh Whitely (Vancouver, BC) is confident about the young players that he has recruited into the program. With 23 players on the roster, it looks like the team has the numbers and depth to truly compete in the U.S. based Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) this season.

“Much of the success we will have this year is closely tied with how quickly the freshman adjust to this level of competition. We made it clear from the beginning of the Fall that this team is good enough to compete for a playoff spot. It’s the goal that we established early and all the guys have been working hard towards accomplishing it”.

 On paper however, the DC Royals look young and somewhat inexperienced. With only four sophomores, it is apparent that the freshman class will get ample opportunity to prove themselves in the North Region of the highly-competitive NWAACC. Coach Whitely seems convinced that the players he recruited to play at Douglas College will compete.

“We brought in some talented freshman this year that should be able to contribute every day on the field for us. It’s a great opportunity for some of these guys to step up and prove that they can play at this level”.

Knowing this, lets now take a closer look at the makeup of the players who will take the field for Douglas College this coming Spring:

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Talent across the Outfield:

The Royals have a lot of true talent and speed starting in the outfield this season. Right fielder and former Brewers draft pick, Chandler McLaren (Guelph, Ontario), has the raw ability to change a game at any time. He will also be relied upon in the middle of the order to drive in runs for the Royals. Returning 2^nd team North Division all-star, Adam Masse (Langley, BC) will need to keep up the great play he finished off the 2010 season and provide leadership to newcomers KP Hlatky (Gibsons, BC) and Shane Kelly (Nanaimo, BC) who stood out this Fall as potential starters. Freshman Takato Sakurai (Coquitlam, BC) also impressed the coaching staff at times this Fall with his natural speed and steady defensive play.

Around the Infield:

Around the infield this year is a fresh set of new faces. The competition for starting roles have been fierce and nobody has won a position outright. Coach Whitely prides his teams on having strong infield defense to limit opposing offensive chances. Sheldon Sinnott (Surrey, BC), a SS/RHP who transferred in January after a year in the Dominican Republic adds much needed depth at the SS position alongside fellow dual player/pitcher Tyler Bird (Port Coquitlam, BC). Their athleticism and hard work should allow them both to play shortstop at the college level.

Freshman 3B Brad Clarke (Cloverdale, BC) swung the bat well in the Fall and has converted his defense smoothly over to the hot corner from shortstop. Brendan Gaunt (North Vancouver, BC) and utility player Hayden MacDonald (Surrey, BC) have been steadily improving their defensive play at 2B and both have the ability to hit their way into the lineup.

First base remains a bit of wildcard for this Spring. Former Junior National team player Daniel Altoe (Burnaby, BC) has been making strides to learn the position while Kurtis Malm (Coquitlam, BC) and Matt Wenham(North Vancouver, BC) have both put on some size and have improved this offseason.

Solid Catching:

Behind the plate, the Royals have perhaps the best defensive duo the program has ever had. Aaron Wagner (Cambridge, Ontario) has worked hard to become a solid backstop and leader to talented freshman transfer Jeremy Kral (Prince George, BC). Kral’s power from the left side will also have him seeing time at 3B when not behind the plate. Coach Whitely expects a lot of out of the catchers, including the development of the pitching staff.      

Young on the Mound:

 Royals 2nd year pitching coach Brooks McNiven leads a young staff into the 2011 Spring. With a short stable of arms this year, he will need to get the most out of each one of them.

“We don’t have a true number one on this staff yet. This gives more opportunities for everyone to work hard for. With that however, comes the responsibility to lead. We will need a few guys to step up and want to get the ball in the big game but everybody needs to contribute for us to have success."

Left handed pitcher Sean Callegari (Richmond, BC) and RHP Brendan Clark (Burnaby, BC) from the North Shore Twins program are two potential candidates who will need to work hard to get themselves ready for their first taste of college baseball. Both are quality arms that will be counted on this coming spring.

RHP Chris Foreman (Coquitlam, BC)returns to the DC roster after a year off and looks consistent enough to make a run at being a potential starter as well. RHP Clayton Franco (Surrey, BC), RHP Scott Piesche (Surrey, BC) and LHP Thomas Lefebvre (Surrey, BC) have already shown great improvements from the pitcher specific program implemented by McNiven and strength coach Jake Elder.

January transfer Curtis Hutson (Port Coquitlam, BC) has also shown some promise this Winter. The three dual players, RHP/SS Tyler Bird, RHP/SS Sheldon Sinnott and RHP Daniel Altoe have been working hard to contribute to the overall success of the staff as well.

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 Only time will tell what kind of success the Royals will have in 2011. The pre-season schedule starts Feb 27^th against CCBC powerhouse Thompson Rivers University and also includes games vs. UBC and a trip to Arizona to play nationally ranked US Junior Colleges. The NWAACC Conference schedule starts April 2^nd  and goes through to mid-May. Douglas must place in the top 4 in the region to move onto the North Regional playoffs. It will be a tough task as four of the teams in the conference rank in the top 10 of Pacific Northwest colleges. The Douglas College Baseball team plays their games out of Whalley Athletic Park and their full schedule and roster can be found at their team’s website here.