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Babe Ruth Calgary hires technical director
By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald January 23, 2010

Miki Kawahara, 27, brings a wealth of baseball experience to his new job as Babe Ruth Calgary technical director. ''My focus here is on
development,'' said Kawahara, who was raised in Red Deer and played minor ball there. ''Obviously, a really high focus on the development
of our athletes, but also the development of coaches.''   Photograph by: Christina Ryan, Calgary Herald

Although only 27 years old, Miki Kawahara has a long history of both playing and coaching baseball.

The new technical director for Babe Ruth Calgary has been tasked to oversee the development of the league - the
first time it has hired a person specifically for this position.

And Kawahara brings a wealth of experience gained on the diamonds of Alberta, British Columbia and even
Australia to his new role.

“My role here is development,” said Kawahara, who grew up in Red Deer and played his minor baseball there.
“Obviously a really high focus on the development of our athletes but also the development of coaches, trying
to make sure that what our coaches do throughout the association is a bit more consistent. What our players
are learning from each coach is a bit consistent. And also just the development of programs. So taking our travel
team program, making some adjustments there, changing that, trying to develop it a little bit better.”

Kawahara graduated with his degree in Human Kinetics from the University of British Columbia. While in college
he was an academic All-Canadian playing for the Douglas College Royals and the UBC Thunderbirds as an outfielder.

After finishing his playing career, he remained in British Columbia until 2007. During that time he helped coach the
Coquitlam Red Legs to back-to-back regional championships in the B.C. Junior Premier Baseball League. He was
also a part of the coaching staff at West Coast Softball from 2002-2007. Over the past five years Kawahara has
coached at the 2007 B.C. Provincial Camp, 2008 and 2009 Alberta Spring Training, 2008 and 2009 Canada Cup
(Team Alberta, 17 and under), and the 2008 and 2009 Alberta Prospects (Head Coach).He’s also a certified strength
and conditioning coach as well as a sport conditioning specialist.

Lyle Tomie, president of Babe Ruth Calgary, said the organization put the word out across Canada that it was
looking to hire a technical director. It received about 20 serious applications.

“The main reason we wanted to hire a technical director was to make sure when people register for this league
they were getting bang for their buck. So they were going to get a consistent experience of practice and playing,”
said Tomie last weekend as players registered for this season.

“We recognize that a lot of our volunteers, our coaches, are dads, parents of players, so we wanted to make sure
those people as well have the opportunity to learn how to coach and the experience for the players is consistent.
That’s the main key. And that’s the main reason that we hired a technical director just to make sure that we’re
giving these kids good development and that we’re able to have a consistent approach throughout this league.”

Tomie said Kawahara fits the bill well.

“He has good experience working with youth, working with people. He was very much into strength and conditioning
and development of players. That's what we really wanted,'' said Tomie.

The league’s opening weekend is May 8 with the season concluding at the end of July. The league, with up to
150 players, has 10 teams with AAA and AA divisions. The AAA teams will play a 28-game schedule while the
AA division has a 24-game schedule. In August, there will be a wood bat league and fall programs are also slated
for the older players and travel team players.

Babe Ruth players are between the ages of 15 and 18 and the league is open to those born between Jan. 1, 1991
and April 30, 1995. Another registration opportunity is scheduled for today between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the
Optimist Arena meeting room, 5020 26th Ave. S.W.

In the past few years, opportunities for players have opened up with independent teams outside of Calgary with
no league affiliations.

Kawahara is hoping to keep Calgary kids playing in Calgary.

“Because they’re not in a league, they’re able to draw players from sort of anywhere,” he said. “So part of what
we’re doing through developing our players, acquiring coaches, we’re trying to recruit. Not necessarily recruiting
but we’re trying to take the players that fit well into our league and keep them in our league and provide them with
what they’re looking for.

“They’re looking for winter training. They’re looking for more games. They’re looking for high quality games and
part of my job in developing our association is to be able to provide them those things that they’re looking for.”

Many former Babe Ruth Calgary players have advanced to play for U.S. college teams and Chris Reitsma has
even played major league baseball.

''Going to back when I played in Red Deer in the late 90s, Babe Ruth has always put together really, really
strong teams and their travel teams used to be in a lot of the tournaments that we played,” said Kawahara.

“That’s my earliest experience with Babe Ruth over 10 years ago and their development and the number of
players that they’ve kept in their league has always been very, very good. It’s really a cornerstone baseball
program within Calgary.”

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Heral
 
click below for
Brett Bousquet - hitting video January 2010 

         

Brett Bousquet is ready
for Senior year as
Pacific University Boxer

       
Bousquet is ready for his senior year on the diamond and
in the classroom at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon.
 
Following graduation with an Exercise Science degree, Bousquet,
an academic scholar, plans to enter grad school for Physical Therapy.   

A versatile infielder/outfielder, Bousquet plays SS, 2nd, 3rd and OF.





            

Blake Carruthers is a T-Bird
  
Freshman Blake Carruthers will patrol the outfield for UBC Thunderbirds

Coach Whitely says that the team is still working to find which players will fill those holes, but for now,
it seems that shortstop Sammie Starr along with newcomer Blake Carruthers (OF) will help in that area.
Carruthers, who redshirted as a freshman at Central Washington last year, is projected to be the new
everyday centerfielder, replacing Jon Syrnyk's (graduated) prowess on defense and speed on the base paths.


Redshirt Year
Blake Carruthers will play NCAA II baseball for 
Central Washington University Wildcats (Ellensburg, WA)
while earning a degreee in education.
He is a three-time Babe Ruth Calgary batting
champion and two-time home run king.

Carruthers played for the AAA Black Foot Inn
Dodgers and the Calgary Blues from 2006-08.  
He was also a member of the 2006 PNW
Regional Championship team that advanced to
the Babe Ruth World Series in Ohio.

                    
LHP Curtis Smith (Calgary, Alta.) transfers
from SMSU to Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks



                            
Smith transfers: LHP Curtis Smith (Calgary, Alta.) earned 2009 2nd Team All-Northern Sun conference
honours in the spring of 2009 and was named team’s most valuable pitcher in the fall of 2009 for
Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs.

Smith led the Mustangs in both wins and starts as he was 7-3 with a 6.11 ERA in 11 outings, making 10 starts.
Smith walked 19 and struck out 47 in 53 innings. Now he has transferred to the University of Nebraska-Omaha
Mavericks. He won't playing this spring due to the transfer but will in the fall of 2010 as a junior.

Canadian Baseball Network names
Jesse Sawyer Player of the Year

 

By BOB ELLIOTT

There was nothing provisional about the swing of third baseman Jesse Sawyer.
Playing his first year of college ball south of the border, Sawyer hit .346 with 19 homers
and 58 RBIs in 56 games for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
A product of the Prairie Baseball Academy and coach Blair Kubicek, Sawyer had
one stretch where he homered in 11 of 13 games for SDSU, in its second season as
a provisional NCAA Division I school.
When Atlanta Braves starter Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine filmed the NIKE commercial
the key line was delivered by Maddux who said “chicks dig the long ball.”
And so do voters.
Sawyer’s 19 homers led the 711 Canadians playing south of the border in 2009 and
he also led all vote getters in balloting for the 10th annual All-Canadian College Team.
Sawyer had 33 first-place votes and was named on 43 of 49 ballots to win our unofficial
player of the year award.

How good was Sawyer in the spring of 2009? Well, he ...
_ Won Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week award co-hitter honors.
_ Won College Baseball Insider’s Central Region Player of the Week.
_ Was named a member of the National All-Star Lineup by the College Baseball Foundation.
_ Won Summit League Player of the Week honours.
In that week to remember he led SDSU to seven wins, including a four-game sweep of
conference rival Western Illinois. Sawyer homered in six of eight games and hit safely in all eight.
For the week, he had a .500 average, scored 19 runs, had 15 RBIs, 14 hits, nine home runs and
two doubles. He also walked seven times, had a 1.536 slugging percentage and .641 on-base percentage.
And oh yeah, he ...
_ Won Summit League Player of the Week in March batting .350 (7-for-20) with two home runs,
six RBIs and four runs scored, with a .435 on-base percentage and .650 slugging percentage
_ Was named a first-team all-Summit League selection at third base.
_ Won the Greg Geary Big Stick award.
Sawyer finished second with 18 doubles, led with 148 total bases and 30 walks as one of three
players to play and start all 56 games. He had 22 multi-hit games, 18 multi-run and multi-RBI games,
including a 4-for-4 effort with a home run, six RBIs against Indian-Purdue Fort Wayne.
First-year head coach Ritchie Price, an assistant with the Jackrabbits last year, spent hours in the
car recruiting Sawyer and Joel Blake (Langley, BC), who both played for PBA in Lethbridge, Alta.
Price said Sawyer also received calls from Oregon State and Washington State, but the Jackrabbits
wound up won a recruiting battle against a couple of Missouri Valley Conference teams who were interested.
“Jesse Sawyer is a very good player with really good bat speed and tremendous power,” Price said.
“When he flies out, it seems like the ball is in the air forever. He has made a lot of progress defensively
this year and I would say he is now a little bit above-average defensively. He is still really raw but has
the talent to play pro before he is done.”
Sawyer’s 19 homers were on more than Brent Lavallee (North Delta, BC) and two more than
Matt Skirving (London, Ont.), Kevin Mailloux (Tecumseh, Ont.) and Josh Garton (Guelph, Ont.).
Next were Anthony Cros (Kelowna, BC) of Northwestern Oklahoma and Jon Prevost (Montreal, Que.)
of Louisiana-Monroe with 15 apiece.   


Canadian Baseball Network launched



Jeff Breen is a Reddie
     
 
Jeff  Breen is a Junior for the Henderson State
Reddies baseball squad that plays in the west division
of the 15-team NCAA II Gulf South Conference. 
Henderson State University is located in
Arkadelphia, Arkansas on Interstate 30 about
halfway between Little Rock and Texarkana.
Breen is majoring in Finance.

Previously Jeff played OF for the University of Calgary Dinos.
Jeff was a standout for the Babe Ruth Calgary
Indians AAA team where he played both Catcher
and Outfield positions.  Breen was a starter with the
2006 Babe Ruth Calgary Blues all-star team that
won the Babe Ruth Pacific Northwest Championship,
the first time ever for BRC in the 16-18 year old category. 

              
Blake Carruthers is a Wildcat


       

Blake Carruthers will play NCAA II baseball for 
Central Washington University Wildcats (Ellensburg, WA)
while earning a degreee in education.
He is a three-time Babe Ruth Calgary batting
champion and two-time home run king.

Carruthers played for the AAA Black Foot Inn
Dodgers and the Calgary Blues from 2006-08.  
He was also a member of the 2006 PNW
Regional Championship team that advanced to
the Babe Ruth World Series in Ohio.

                   

Brett Bousquet is a Pacific University Boxer
  

click here for latest skills 'n drills video
  

                 
Bousquet played MI for the Babe Ruth Calgary AAA Blackfoot Inn Dodgers.  He also played MI for the Calgary Blues All-star team and was part of the 2006 Pacific Northwest Championship team that advanced to the Babe Ruth World Series. During the summer Bousquet plays for the Calgary Redbirds Senior AAA men's team in the Alberta Sunburst League. He is majoring in Exercise Science in pursuit of a doctorate in Physical Therapy. Bousquet started his baseball career in the Etobicoke Lakeshore baseball League.  He also played in the Cal South Little League and for the Calgary Cubs, which plays under the Baseball Alberta banner.

Alberta athletes playing College baseball

Pitcher can jump three times height
6' 2" Harrison Zivot won the Gold medal in the Calgary zone
for senior boys long jump at the Calgary City finals track meet. 
His jump was 6.20 metres or nearly 19 feet.


Harrison Zivot is a STAG!
Babe Ruth Calgary Pitcher
committed to counting beans
and throwing peas

Read about it in the Calgary Herald

  
Harrison Zivot

Congrats to Harrison Zivot who will pitch for the
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Stags who
play in the very tough NCAA 3 Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (SCIAC).
The Stags are led by Head Coach Randy Town
a former pro pitcher and coach in the Cincinnati Reds 
organization. 

"We are excited about 2008 and having
Harrison on our pitching staff," says Coach Town.
"We both felt this was a great match for his college
education and for furthering his baseball career."

Harrison received early acceptance to Claremont McKenna,
an academic institution that is consistently
ranked in the top-20 by the Princeton Review
and US News. While at Claremont McKenna, Harrison
will be majoring in Financial Economics.  Part of his educational
training will include Leadership courses at the
renowned Kravis Leadership Research Institute.

Zivot is the first Babe Ruth Calgary student/athlete to
be accepted by an NCAA four-year school in California. 

Harrison is a member of the Babe Ruth Calgary
Dodgers AAA team and played on the 2006 PNW
Championship Blues travel team.

About Claremont McKenna College
Claremont McKenna College is a highly selective independent
liberal arts college educating leaders in business and public affairs.
CMC enrolls 1,000 students and covers nearly fifty acres in the heart
of The Claremont Colleges in Claremont, California. A comfortable
college town of 35,000 residents, Claremont is nestled at the foothills
of the San Gabriel Mountains and 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles

Darren Kamp is a Wildcat

 
Darren Kamp a former Babe Ruth Calgary Blues all-star
and catcher for  the Dodgers AAA baseball team suits up for the
NCAA Wayne State Wildcats (Wayne, Nebraska). Kamp will also
play for the Medicine Hat Mavericks of the Western Major
Baseball League for the 2008 season.



Jeff Hall is a Thunderbird

Going 0-2 to start a baseball season isn't a cry for help, but it certainly is never a good thing.
UBC's baseball team was 0-2 in 2008 going into their Saturday afternoon matchup with
Occidental College, on the road, but had high hopes for this one. Last year they opened
their season against Oxy, with a 6-0 win. 363 days later, on February 16th, 2008, they looked
to rebound from a disappointing first couple games, and crush the Tigers.

UBC, nor Occidental has put up a box score for the 16-4 trouncing (UBC picked up the W),
so I'll have to post UBC's recap of the game.

The T-Birds picked up their first win in exhibition play on Saturday with a big 16-4 win over
NCAA division III Occidental College.

Freshman catcher Steve Bone went 3-for-5 with four runs scored and an RBI in his first start a
s a Thunderbird, and short stop Sammie Starr came into the game in the 7th inning, making
an immediate impact, as he went 2-for-2 with 3 RBIs and a two-run homerun.

First-year pitcher Jeff Hall picked up the win for UBC, going five innings and giving up three
runs on four hits.

The win comes in UBC's third exhibition game of the season. They lost 9-1 to Fresno State
and 7-2 to Masters College on Friday.



Excerpts from Road Kill Sports Blog
UBC Thunderbirds 2008 Season Preview
"UBC's pitchers are mostly returning after their disappointing 2007 post-season, with Seniors Andrew
LaFleur and Kurt Schumacher. Also returning are Junior Jordan Anderson, Sophomore Greg Chong,
RHP/DH Scott Webster and southpaw Mark Hardy. Newcomers to UBC are Geoff Burke, Taylor King,
Jeff Hall, Sean Carrick, Ashton Florko, Eric Brown and Josh Brink."

"Hall hails from Calgary, and attended the Prairie Baseball Academy. He is a reliever who stands at
6'1, 180 lbs, and is in UBC's Human Kinetics program. Named Prairie Dawg player of the year in 2007,
his second year at the Academy in Lethbridge, Jeff will certainly make an impact with UBC."
 
Former BRC Blues and Dodgers hurler Jeff Hall has received a baseball scholarship to play for
the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the very tough Region 1 of NAIA. RHP Hall played
two seasons for the Lethbridge-based Prairie Baseball Academy Prairie Dawgs.  Following a stellar
2007 season, Hall was named Prairie Dawg Player of the year.  in preparation for UBC this fall, Hall is
fine tuning his pitches as a hurler for the Okotoks Dawgs of the Western Major Baseball League.
Hall is enrolled in UBC's Human Kinetics program.  



Marc Wilson a Tiger



 
Following two seasons with the
NAIA Valley City State Vikings
former Babe Ruth Calgary
Blues/Giants LHP Marc Wilson
has joined the NAIA Campbellsville
University Tigers as a Junior.
Campbellsville is located
south of Louisville Kentucky.



 

Cory Arnason earns another scholarship

Cory Arnason

Airdrie Echo January 2008

Cory Arnason is a Viking