When Austin Russell of the hometown Victoria Mariners, Duncan鈥檚 Darren Kolk of the Nanaimo Pirates and Burnaby鈥檚 Alex Calbick of the Coquitlam Reds played against each other in the sa国际传媒 Premier Baseball League, little could they have known that a few years later they would be teammates for one night in front of more than 20 MLB scouts.
That night comes next Tuesday when Russell of the Victoria HarbourCats, Kolk of the Kelowna Falcons and San Francisco Giants-signed Calbick of the Bellingham Bells will represent the home country as the three Canadians in the West Coast League all-star game at Royal Athletic Park.
The WCL all-star rosters, 24 players on the North Division team and 24 on the South Division squad, were announced yesterday and selected by fan balloting, recommendations from MLB scouts and voting by league coaches.
Russell plays collegiately for little-known Southern Polytechnic State of Atlanta and Kolk for Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo. Calbick, from the University of Maine Black Bears athletic program that has produced pros in both hockey and baseball, has the most noteworthy pedigree of the all-star Canucks.
But all three have fashioned tremendous storylines to find themselves at Royal Athletic Park next week.
鈥淚 may have surprised other people but this is no surprise to me,鈥� said Russell, among five HarbourCats selected for the all-star tilt with Alex Real, Alex DeGoti and pitchers Ty Provencher and Scott Kuzminsky.
鈥淚 had confidence going into the season and expected this much of myself,鈥� said the outfielder, who is batting .309.
鈥淏eing here from Day 1 also helped,鈥� added the Lambrick Park Secondary graduate, noting the many late arrivals in the WCL because of players still involved in NCAA playdowns leading to the College World Series.
鈥淚鈥檓 ecstatic to be playing in the all-star game in my hometown.鈥�
Kolk, who can tear up the base paths, has been the lone bright spot this season for Kelowna and returns to his home island as the only Falcon picked.
Heading into Tuesday night, Calbick was second in league batting at .396 and behind only Cowlitz outfielder Kyle Knigge (.400), who is a Southern Division selection.
HarbourCats鈥� first-baseman Real, an Atlanta Braves draft pick who already looks pro-ready, was third in league batting at .390 heading into last night鈥檚 action while Victoria teammate DeGoti has been steady all season and was also in the top-10 at .327.
鈥淚t feels really good to be selected an all-star,鈥� said DeGoti, a Miami native out of Long Beach State, before the HarbourCats took to the field Tuesday evening in Medford, Ore.
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing a bit of everything this season 鈥� getting on base and playing good defence. It鈥檚 going to be great to be playing in the all-star game on our home diamond in front of our home fans.鈥�
The Walla Walla Sweets, who know Royal Athletic Park well after sweeping the HarbourCats there last week, will be the most heavily-represented team in the all-star game with nine players selected for the North Division, six of them pitchers. The Bend Elks, who have also played on the Caledonia Street diamond this season, have the most players on the South Division team with seven.
Dennis Rogers of the HarbourCats will guide the Northern Division and Ed Knaggs of the Wenatchee AppleSox the South Division.
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