By Craig Beauchemin

NSRBL Season Preview: Standard Hill looks to build on surprise year

May 17, 2016 | 12:00 PM

The Standard Hill Lakers come into the 2016 North Saskatchewan River Baseball League (NSRBL) season with tempered expectations. Last season, the team made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, but admit their strong finish was a bit of a lark.  

“Last year we ended up doing a little bit better than we thought,” player Garry Pauls said. “I think we shocked Wilkie a bit when we played them in the first round, and overall it was a good year. We had a few young pitchers come in and help us out and our hitting came into its own. A few guys were convinced to come out of Lloydminster to help us out.”

A 4-0 start last year propelled the Lakers into the playoffs where they nearly advanced past the Wilkie Brewers; a perennial contender. After a 10-9 win in game one, the Lakers dropped game two by an identical score before losing the deciding game three 11-1.

Brad Holfeld was the go-to guy for the Lakers on the mound last season. He posted a 4-1 record with a 5.25 ERA over 34.2 innings pitched. The Lakers scored 92 runs as a team last year, which tied them for first place with the champion Border City Blue Jays. They also posted a batting average of .321, which was good enough for third in the NSRBL behind St. Walburg (.372) and Border City (.362).

“For sure, we’ve got some young kids coming up and they’ve got a lot of seasoning to do,” Pauls laughed when asked about potential weaknesses on the team. “It’s just back to the basics with them, just teaching them the game.”

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Pauls said the team has practiced a few times a week leading into their season opener.

Returning players for the Lakers this season include: Garry Pauls, Nathan Blanchette, Brant Franks, Brad Holfeld, Brandon Stremick, Brady Zerr, Dylan Kuffner, David Spangenburg, Nic Weston, Cooper Olson, Dylan Dube, Darrly Case, Travis Hutchison, Kody Rhinehart, Brett Harrison and Jamie Johnston.

The three rookies on the roster for the Lakers this season are Keenan Schmitt, Gary Stewart and Josh Sielsky.

Standard Hill begins their season Thursday, May 19 when they play the Edam Blue Sox.

cjnbsports@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @craig_beauch