From the Prince George Citizen
Stony Plain arrives for nationals disguised as Newfoundlanders

by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff

Here’s an alternative name for the Stony Plain Twiliters.

The Newfoundland West Oilers.

The Twiliters, who are entered in next week’s Canadian senior men’s fastpitch championship in Prince George, have nine Newfoundland transplants on their roster.

“Some of us came out (to Alberta) in the first (oil) boom in the late 70s and early 80s and some came in the 90s,” said 44-year-old Stony Plain player/coach Kevin Lannon, himself a native of The Rock.

“There are three or four of us that bring the team age up a little bit.”

The other Newfoundland products who wear Twiliters uniforms are manager Mike Hynes, pitcher Daryl Tilley, catcher Cyril Walsh, second baseman Dan Corbett, third baseman James Dunphy, outfielders Barry Sullivan and Ron Joy and utility man Mike Tilley. This national tournament will be the first for the Twiliters. And they have good reason for wanting to get a taste of the action.

Next year’s nationals will be held on familiar ground, and they plan to be there.

“Basically, when we put this team together, we said it was a two-year project because the nationals are in St. John’s, Newfoundland, next year,” Lannon said.

“This year, we’re getting our feet wet, and we’re going to get drenched. But we’ll know what we have to do for next year in St. John’s.”

This year’s tournament starts Sunday at Spruce City Stadium. With a smaller-than-normal eight-team field, competition is expected to be intense. Lannon, fully aware there will be no easy games, calls Stony Plain “a sleeper” team.

“I think because there’s only eight teams this year, we’re really going to have our eyes widened,” he said.

“We could surprise some people.”

The Twiliters will face a stiff test right away at nationals. Sunday at noon, they open the tournament against the defending champion St. Thomas (Ont.) Evergreen Centennials. Late Sunday night, Stony Plain will be back on the diamond against the Jarvis Merchants from Ontario.

As they look to pull off some upsets, the Twiliters will rely on the arms of Craig Pidcock and Daryl Tilley to keep opposing hitters quiet.

“They will be the mainstays,” Lannon said. “We’ve also got a guy out of Grande Prairie, (pitcher) Derick Judrey, who has been to many nationals. He is very experienced. He hasn’t been on the senior A circuit for three or four years but has been coming back. He’s going to be excited to toe the rubber, too.”

Defensively, the Twiliters are anchored by catcher Scott Smith, who has previous senior national experience with the Edmonton Merchants. At second base, Corbett is no stranger to national fastball tournaments either. Junior and senior combined, he has played in the national spotlight close to a dozen times and should be a calming influence for his fellow infielders. And Mike Tilley, who can play anywhere he is needed, has a world title on his fastball resume.

“He played on the under-19 world youth team that won (the title) probably 10 years ago,” Lannon said.

In the outfield, Fred Serritt will be an important man for the Twiliters.

“He has been to a few nationals,” Lannon said. “So we have experience. We have a few 40-and-over (players) who will spot in and out. Me personally, this is my first one so I’ll probably just sit back and enjoy it and let the younger guys take the brunt of it.”

At the plate, Lannon considers the Stony Plain batting order to be solid from top to bottom.

“One to nine, there isn’t much difference,” he said. “We have a bit of speed up front with Sullivan and Clarence Gerbrandt, our shortstop. This is his first time at the senior A (nationals) and I think he’ll turn a lot of heads with his play. He’ll lead off, and if he’s hitting, his game is unbelievable.

“Our power is going to come from Mike Tilley and Ronny Joy. James Dunphy can put it out at any time and Danny Corbett is one of our better hitters. He’ll probably be batting third. We’re going to have a full bench and everyone is going to get used.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 7:40 am and is filed under Tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.