The North Sask. River Baseball League will have two MVP’s this season; one from each division. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Homerun Hitters

NSRBL announce MVP Candidates for 2020 season

Aug 11, 2020 | 2:59 PM

The North Sask. River Baseball League (NSRBL) announced its Most Valuable Player (MVP) candidates this week, following the conclusion of the regular season.

Each of the 10 teams submitted a player off their roster to be up for MVP, which will be split this season between the two divisions. Similar to Major League Baseball, there will be an East Division MVP, and West Division MVP.

NSRBL co-commissioner, Kelvin Colliar, said the decision to switch formats for the season was due in large part to the alterations made to the campaign this year, because of the pandemic.

Unlike regular years where each team plays each other at least once, this season to help limit travel, each team played only those in their own division in the shortened eight-game schedule.

Among the nominees from the local teams are the Battlefords Trappers’ Bob Hudec, and North Battleford Beavers’ Damon Schaefer.

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Bob Hudec, Battlefords Trappers

Hudec, who is coming off his second season with the Trappers, played all eight games for his team. Serving as a bit of a ‘Swiss army knife’ for the club, the Fox Valley, Sask., product played a mix of positions ranging from right field to first base and even pitcher.

At the plate, Hudec finished second in team slugging percentage (.625), third in batting average (.458), and third in hits (11). Additionally, on the mound he also posted the most wins (three) and second-best earned run average (ERA) amongst pitchers on the team (2.15).

Hudec said he’s humbled to have been nominated by his teammates for the MVP award.

“Obviously it’s really special, we have a lot of good ball players on our team,” he said. “The fact that they voted for me when a lot of my teammates are probably better ball players than me [was really something].”

Hudec added while the Trappers’ season may have come to a close sooner than they would have liked (with a quarter-finals loss at the hands of the Beavers) he’s already looking forward to next season.

“We’ve got a good, solid team and I mean we ended up losing out early this year, but I think with the group of guys we have, we’re going to come back next year even stronger than before,” he said.

Damon Schaefer, North Battleford Beavers

Schaefer made an immediate impact with the Beavers this year, in his first full season with the team. The Meota product led North Battleford with a .571 batting average, while finishing second in both on base percentage (.571) and slugging percentage (.643).

Schaefer’s 10 strikeouts were also second amongst Beavers’ pitchers, and his two wins were most on the team.

Schaefer said while it is certainly something special to be recognized for his efforts, he’s also quick to share credit with his fellow teammates. He said the close-knit nature of the team has been pivotal to their success this year.

“It’s definitely an honour, [but] there are certainly many other guys on the team who chip in and do their jobs that anyone could have got it really,” he said. “It’s a really close-knit team too, so it’s a lot of fun going to the diamond and you enjoy going there and being there. I think that’s a big part of any team, just being close and playing with your buddies and bonding; grabbing a few beers after the game and having a good time.”

Schaefer said while the personal accolades are nice, he – like the rest of his team – are focused on the task at hand and looking forward to their league final matchup. The Beavers kick off their championship series with the Lloyd Twins Thursday.

“[The MVP nomination] is exciting and I like that they think I’m doing a good job, but it’s time to look towards the finals here. We’ve still got some ball to go against a good team with the Lloyd Twins, and hopefully we can bring home a championship to the Battlefords.”

Thursday’s opening game will be played in Lloydminster. Game two will follow Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Beaver Lions Stadium in North Battleford.

In addition to Hudec and Schaefer, other players around the league nominated for East Division MVP honours include the Mervin Flyers’ Drew Nelson; Standard Hill’s Cooper Olson; and Meadow Lake’s Nathan Dancy.

In the West Division, Braden Polreis of the Unity Cardinals, Tanner Huber of the Junior Cardinals; Colby Field of the Lloyd Jays; Jayden Gardner of the Twins; and Kindersley’s Blake Robertson are up for the award.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1