The Future Helena and Arizona Brewers -- 30th round 3B/OF Dedrick Signs

[twobrewers]

Thanks for the updates Battlekow.

(BTW - I love the new avatar)

[homer]

What kind of competition is at the World Junior Championships? Is that about the equivalent of Pioneer League talent?

[battlekow]

I would imagine somewhat lower. The players are all 18 or under, so I'd think it would be maybe a notch or two below the AZL, which has a lot of young international signees, but also some older college guys. Maybe something like the DSL/VSL.

 

Also, Canada's game yesterday against the Czech Republic was postoned. They're playing sometime today.

[zelouswheeler4prez]

how fast would you say lawrie is? i'm just curious considering he had three triples in one game and an inside the park homerun in another it sounds like he has speed to match his bat power

[TheCrew07]

He runs very well for a C if that's where he sticks, his 60 time was 6.75. Cutter Dykstra was one of the quickest players at his SPARQ testing and had the highest overall score with Lawrie coming second. For those interested, Dykstra's 60 time was 6.58, so while Lawrie isn't "elite" he definately runs well. An average time is about 7 seconds, so he's above average speed wise, though most teams would expect position players to be at least 6.7 to 6.8 as the average time gets skewed by Pitchers/Catchers.

 

Edit. I noticed on the SPARQ site that Lawrie's Vertical Jump was 31.5" so I have no idea where the newspaper reporter got that 46 number.

[battlekow]

EDIT: box score

 

Lawrie homers again! Marcus Knecht hit a grand slam, too.

Juniors Tee Off on Czechs

EDMONTON - This one was never in doubt as the Junior National Team made quick work of the Czech Republic, winning by a score of 25-1 in seven innings at the World Junior Championship.

The Canadians pounded out 23 hits as everyone in the lineup would get at least one hit, including five home runs from five different players.

The flood gates were opened early as Canada would score seven runs in the top of the first inning, highlighted by Brett Lawrie's (Langley, BC) three-run homer and James Kottaras' (Markham, ON) RBI triple.

The Juniors added one run in the second inning on Kottaras' second RBI of the game to score Carter Bell (Courtenay, BC).

Luke Willson (Lasalle, ON), who was a triple short of the cycle, hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to put Canada ahead by ten.

"In games like this, you just want to make sure you don't do anything crazy," says Willson, who was 5-for-5 with six RBI.

The Czech Republic scored their only run of the game in the bottom half of the fourth, when Mates Hejma went deep off of Canadian starter François Lafreniere (St. Bruno, QC).

That would be the only blemish of Lafreniere's day as the right-hander would throw the complete game, allowing the one run on four hits, one walk and 12 strikeouts.

"I knew that I couldn't take these guys lightly," says Lafreniere. "I just had to go out there and throw strikes and that's what I did and it went well."

The Canadians kept their foot on the gas as they would add another five runs in the fifth inning, featuring a pair of home runs, one from Ivan Hartle (North Vancouver, BC) and one from Jonathan Gilbert (St-Georges, QC).

Then Canada would put 10 more runs on the board in the sixth inning. The Juniors would collect eight hits in the frame, including a grand-slam home run from Marcus Knecht (Toronto, ON).

"We did a good job offensively today, in that we didn't try to pull off pitches," says JNT coach Les MacTavish. "(Lafreniere) did a tremendous job on the mound today and I think that was the key to the ball game. We were able to save our arms and now we'll be fresh and healthy for the playoffs."

Canada will open the playoffs against Australia on Friday, August 1. The Canadians can expect a far tougher test against the Aussies than they did today.

"We just need to worry about ourselves and play our game," says MacTavish. "We've got balance up and down our lineup and we've got arms that can keep you honest and I think if we play our game we have a great chance to be successful."

The quarter-final matchup between Canada and Australia is scheduled for 7:05 pm at Telus Field.

[battlekow]

This recap of the Canada/Czech Republic game mentions Marcus Knecht's signing status:

Canada blasts Czechs

 

Canucks will face Australia in Pool B semifinal tonight

 

By JOHN SHORT, SPECIAL TO THE EDMONTON SUN

It was at least as easy as the scoreboard made it look:

Team Canada 25 Czech Republic 1.

Things could have been worse if not for the 10-run mercy rule that ends one-sided contests (or non-contests) after seven innings.

WARM-UP GAME

A first-inning home run by Brett Lawrie settled the issue and later blasts by Marcus Knecht and Ivan Hartle helped the Canadians to a virtual walkover in a warm-up game for tonight's playoff meeting with Australia.

Knecht's homer was a grand slam. Hartle connected with two mates aboard.

"The good thing is that we stayed within ourselves," coach Les McTavish explained at St. Albert's Legion Park. "You didn't see guys flying all over the place trying to hit the ball a mile."

Correct.

The Canadians might have been excused for going wild after Lawrie's homer built a 5-0 lead.

Instead, they contented themselves with fundamentals like solid pitching from righthander Francois Lafreniere, admirable defence from several players and a massive offensive display, the kind that only happens in dreams or against inept opposition.

So good was the performance that a five-hit performance by centre-fielder Luke Willson was almost overlooked. At 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, it's almost impossible for the 18-year-old from southern Ontario to disappear, but he almost managed it on this occasion.

McTavish, for one, knows it will be much tougher against the Aussies tonight.

The nation won silver in the 2004 Olympics and consistently represents itself well in this sport at every international level.

In the other semifinal in the same bracket, Mexico faces Cuba today.

CHOICE BETWEEN TWO

McTavish said Canada will choose between righthander Stosh Wawrzasek and Nick Bucci as tonight's starter.

"They're both fresh enough to do the job for us."

Knecht, a student at St. Michael's College in Toronto, faces a major decision in the next few days.

The Milwaukee Brewers, who chose the 195-pound outfielder in the 23rd round of this year's amateur draft, are scheduled to make a contract offer.

If Knecht doesn't accept, he plans to attend Oklahoma State University.

He made no big deal of the long home run.

"The pitch was inside," he said. "I turned on it. It went out."

Second-baseman Hartle's attitude was similar.

"I'm a leadoff guy," said the 170-pound second baseman. "My job is to get on base so other guys can drive me in.

"It's a great experience to play in an international tournament like this. I don't hit a lot of homers but I feel like we're all doing a good job on this team.

"We just have to keep doing it."

[battlekow]

EDIT: box score

Canada lost to Australia on Friday:

Juniors Fall Short in Quarters

EDMONTON - In what was predicted to be an even matchup, the fans in the stands got to see exactly that. However the Junior National Team would get the short end of the stick and fell just short as Australia would get an upset victory over Canada by a score of 2-1 in the quarter-final of the World Junior Championship.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Canadians rallied to load the bases, beginning with Michael Crouse (Port Moody, BC) reaching on an error. Follow that up with a single from Carter Bell (Courtenay, BC) and a walk to Carter Morrison (Langley, BC) and that would bring Luke Willson (Lasalle, ON) to the plate with a chance to win it for Canada.

With the count one ball and two strikes on Willson, the pitch from Aussie reliever Jarryd Sullivan seemed to have struck Willson in the shin, which would have brought in the tying run. However the home plate umpire disagreed and Willson would eventually strikeout swinging to end the ballgame.

"I told the umpire that the ball hit me, but he said it didn't," says Willson. "There not much else you can do after that. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't be called out on a questionable call and I ended up swinging over a pitch that dropped down."

It was a tight battle throughout as both starting pitchers would go deep into the game give very little.

Stosh Wawrzasek (Langley, BC) got the start on the mound for Canada and went six and a third strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits, one walk and four strikeouts.

It was a similar line for Aussie starter Justin Erasmus as he would go seven innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

Australia opened the scoring in the fourth inning, scoring a pair on a single and a sacrifice fly to take the lead 2-0.

Canada responded in the sixth inning when James Kottaras (Markham, ON) came in to score on the sacrifice fly from Lionel Morrill (Edmonton, AB) to cut the lead in half. Unfortunately, that is as close as the Juniors would get.

"They played a good game against us," says Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC). "We lost as a team today, there's no doubt about it. It was their game today and there's no tomorrow in this tournament, so we just have to keep our heads up high and go after it again tomorrow."

"Sometimes in life you play for pride and that's what we have to do," says JNT Manager Greg Hamilton. "We came in here trying to win a medal and we thought we had a legitimate team to do it. We still do, but sometime it doesn't go your way in a 2-1 game and now we have to go out and finish as high as we can and maintain the respect and pride we have in our program."

The Junior National Team will begin their quest to finish in the fifth spot starting on Saturday, August 2 against Puerto Rico. Game time is at 7:00 pm at John Fry Park.

[battlekow]

Through Friday, Lawrie is hitting .435/.500/1.174 in 28 plate appearances. He has 4 triples, 3 home runs, and a 4/2 BB/K.

[colbyjack]

If anyone wants to check out Team Canada's Olympic Media Guide, check out this page (download the PDF):

 

http://66.241.210.162/eng_cat.cfm?CatID=28&Related=29&OrigID=148

[battlekow]

EDIT: box score

 

Juniors Rally to Top Puerto Rico EDMONTON - The Junior National Team brought in six runs in the top of the ninth to come from behind and beat Puerto Rico by a score of 9-6. The Juniors came into the frame trailing 6-3 after Puerto Rico broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning by scoring three runs. However, Canada would tie it up with one swing of the bat as Carter Morrison (Langley, BC) hit a three-run home run to bring the Juniors back to even. "I was just working the count and got it to 3-1 when he threw me a fastball inside, which I had been waiting for all night and I turned on it," says Morrison of his home run. Canada would then load the bases for Ivan Hartle (North Vancouver, BC), who would draw the walk to drive in the winning run for the Canadians. Jonathan Gilbert (St-Georges, QC) would hit a RBI single and Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) would drive in a run on a sacrifice fly to put Canada ahead by three. From there, Mike Monster (Kelowna, BC) went to the mound to close things out and got Jan Vazquez to strikeout for the final out and seal the victory. "These are not easy games when your goals and objectives go out the window the night before," says JNT Manager Greg Hamilton. "Even though you're only playing for placement, it does make a difference and it does matter and I'm glad to see we were able to dig deep in the end and win that." Lost in the big ninth inning by the Canadians was the performance of starting pitcher Evan Grills (Whitby, ON), who would go seven strong innings, allowing three runs on three hits and five walks with seven strikeouts. "I was just trying to throw strikes and get ahead of batters," says Grills. "I wanted to use my defense so I was a bit surprised by the number of strikeouts tonight." Puerto Rico opened the scoring in the second inning when a pair of Canadian errors would allow a run to score and give Puerto Rico a 1-0 lead. Canada would immediately respond in the top of the third on a RBI single from Brett Lawrie to drive in James Kottaras (Markham, ON) and tie things up at 1-1. Canada would add two more in the top of the fourth inning on a RBI double from Luke Willson (Lasalle, ON) and a RBI from Kottaras and put the Juniors ahead by two. Puerto Rico would make things interesting by scoring one run in the fifth inning and another in the sixth to tie up the game and setup the late inning dramatics. Next up for the Junior National Team will be Chinese Taipei, who beat Mexico 1-0 earlier in the day. They will face off to see who will finish in fifth place. Game time is at 10:00 am in St. Albert.

[wildbobu]

All the Canadians the Brewers have and they couldn't draft Mike Monster the Canadian Junior closer. He would immediatly become my favorite prospect.

[battlekow]

Baseball: Olympics the next challenge for 18-year-old Lawrie

Posted: August 04, 2008, 9:36 PM by Jim Bray

The competition is about to get a tad tougher for Brett Lawrie. But it is hard to bet against the Langley, B.C., product, who has not yet met his match on the baseball diamond.

Lawrie, 18, joined Canada's Olympic team yesterday after humiliating every pitcher he faced at the world junior baseball championships in Edmonton. He hit .469, leading the tournament with three home runs and 16 RBIs in seven games. He was also selected as the catcher for the tournament's World Team.

On June 5, the Milwaukee Brewers made Lawrie their Number 1 draft pick and the highest Canadian position player ever chosen in the amateur draft. Lawrie is expected to sign with the Brewers after the Olympics and begin his pro career in 2009.

An 18-year-old on the Olympic team? Listen to Greg Hamilton, director of Baseball Canada's national teams, the man who made the final call.

"He's an awfully good player," Hamilton said. "Sometimes I think you have to disregard age. I did everything, in the sense of challenging myself, to not have him on this club."

Hamilton could not talk himself out of adding Lawrie to the Beijing-bound contingent.

"He's a very special talent. It's not only the talent with this kid, it's the complete belief in his talent. He has absolutely no fear. He has total belief that he's going to the big leagues yesterday."

Hamilton knows Lawrie will face a new level of competition in the Olympics. But Lawrie hits right-handed, and Canada's left-leaning lineup welcomes the possibilities that Lawrie provides.

"He plays way beyond his years," Hamilton said. "I don't think the environment is going to faze him."

- John Lott, National Post

[battlekow]

box score

Canada Finishes Sixth at World Juniors

EDMONTON - In the end, the Junior National Team simply ran out of options and nothing seemed to go their way as they would fall at the hands of Chinese Taipei by a score of 11-4 in the fifth place game at the World Junior Championship.

The Canadians were short on pitchers going into this one as all their pitchers would be working on short rest.

It started off well for Canada as they would open the scoring in the first inning on a RBI single from Michael Crouse (Port Moody, BC) to score Lionel Morrill (Edmonton, AB) and give Canada the 1-0 lead.

That would basically be one of few high points for the Canadians in this matchup. Chinese Taipei would get to Canadian starter François Lafreniere (St. Bruno, QC) in the fourth inning on back-to-back solo home runs from Yu-Hseng Chen and Fu-Lin Kuo. Taipei would add another run in the inning to take a 3-1 lead.

Then Taipei would blow it open in fifth inning scoring five runs in the frame on five straight singles and a double to put them ahead 8-1.

Canada would start clawing back in the sixth inning on the two-run double from Luke Willson (Lasalle, ON) to bring in Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) and Crouse and cut the lead to 8-3.

But that is as close as the Canadians would get in this game as Taipei would add another run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to put it away.

Canada would add one more run in the ninth inning on the RBI double from Ivan Hartle (North Vancouver, BC).

"They found so many holes today that there wasn't much we could do. They hit the ball well," says Lawrie, who was 3-for-4 in this game. "Hats off to them, they swung the bats well today."

"Sixth place isn't the result you want. We were down on our pitching and it makes it tough when you don't have healthy arms," says JNT Manager Greg Hamilton. "We were in tough today. They swung the bats well and we didn't have a whole lot of answers, but I don't want to take it away from them. They swung the bats well and they deserved to win,"

Canada finishes the World Junior Championship with a 5-3 record. The margin for error in this type of tournament is very small and unfortunately for the Juniors, a championship was not meant to be this time around.

"In the end, we lost a 2-1 game to Australia which could've completely changed the complexion of how things finished," says Hamilton. "If the 2-1 ballgame goes the other way, you never know, but that's what it is. It's a small margin in this game from being at the ultimate level of success to being sixth."

The process begins again this coming fall as the Junior National Team will reconvene in Orlando for the Fall Instructional Camp at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex this October. From there a new team will be chosen to complete the quest for gold at the 2010 World Junior Championship, which will be in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

[battlekow]

Lawrie Wins World Triple Crown

EDMONTON - At the conclusion of the World Junior Championship, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) unveiled the tournament's award winners and All-Star team and Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) brought home a lot of hardware.

Lawrie was awarded the Top Hitter Award with his .469 average for the tournament. He was also awarded the Most Home Runs Award with three and the Most RBI Award with 16. He was also named the catcher for the World All-Star team.

"We played well as a team the whole tournament," says Lawrie. "It's unfortunate that we couldn't achieve what we wanted to coming here, but I'm very proud of the way the team played during the tournament."

Joining Lawrie on the World All-Star team is Michael Crouse (Port Moody, BC) as an outfielder. Crouse hit .312 with two doubles, one triple and five RBI in the tournament and fielded his position exceptionally, committing no errors with 12 putouts.

[TheCrew07]

Am I missing something here? How Lawrie sign with the Brewers after Aug 15th? Is there some extension granted to players who participate in the Olympics? The earliest any team will be done playing is Aug 20th, which is well past the signing deadline. If there's not an extension then every story including a blurb about Lawrie signing after the Olympics is shoddy journalism.

 

I searched around on the web and came up empty trying to find any exceptions to the Aug 15th deadline.

[smitman11]

From the Brewers Press Release:

Brewers sign 30th round selection Thomas "Wayne" Dedrick

 

The Milwaukee Brewers today signed 3B/OF Thomas "Wayne" Dedrick, their 30th round selection from the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, Jack Zduriencik, Brewers Vice President - Special Assistant to the General Manager for Player Personnel announced. A native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Dedrick graduated from Hillcrest HS (Ala.) and will forgo a basketball scholarship he was offered to David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn. Dedrick was signed by Joe Mason and will report to the Brewers Instructional League at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix.

The Brewers have now signed 36 of the 50 players selected in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.

[battlekow]

Wayne Dedrick signs pro contract with Brewers organization

By Tommy Deas Executive Sports Editor

 

TUSCALOOSA | Wayne Dedrick, who led Hillcrest High School to a Class 6A state championship in basketball, has decided to pursue a professional baseball career.

Dedrick, a surprise 30th-round draft pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in June's amateur draft, has signed a contract with the organization. He will report to play on the Brewers' Rookie League team in Tempe, Ariz., in two weeks.

Dedrick enrolled at Lipscomb University in Nashville for summer classes after signing a basketball scholarship with the school, but withdrew to consider his options after he was drafted. 'It was a tough decision,' he said.

'I really liked Lipscomb and my coaches. I liked all my teammates. I didn't want to leave those guys.

'I'm just doing what's best for me. It was a great opportunity. I didn't want to pass it up.'

The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder played on a state baseball championship team at Hillcrest as a junior. He was named Player of the Year as a member of The Tuscaloosa News Super Five team in basketball as a senior.

'I was a guy who grew up wanting to be the next Michael Jordan,' he said. 'I fell in love with (baseball) this season.'

Dedrick will start out at third base in the Milwaukee organization, his primary position at Hillcrest, but said he may be moved to the outfield.

http://images.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=TL&Date=20080814&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=673630995&Ref=AR&Profile=1004&MaxW=250&border=0(Staff file photo/Dan Lopez)
Wayne Dedrick pitching here in April for Hillcrest, will join the Brewers organization in two weeks. He will play in the rookie league team in Tempe, Ariz.

[Never Outhustled]

Dedrick sounds like a terrific athlete, and is an exciting sign. It would be interesting to see how much he signed for, and if his bonus was spread out for the 2 sport athlete rule. He has almost no baseball experience, similar to Lorenzo Cain. Hopefully he can develop into a similar prospect.

[brewpitch]

Dedrick sounds like a terrific athlete, and is an exciting sign. It would be interesting to see how much he signed for, and if his bonus was spread out for the 2 sport athlete rule. He has almost no baseball experience, similar to Lorenzo Cain. Hopefully he can develop into a similar prospect.

 

That article may be a little misleading. He has been playing baseball all his life, but he really fell in love with it this year. He and (19th round pick) Blake Billings have been playing together since they were ten years old.

[battlekow]

Lawrie went 0-2 with sac fly in Canada's 4-0 win over the Netherlands. Nice shot of him catching a fly ball:

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/mm/photo/sports/general/23/39/22/233922_m02.jpg

[battlekow]

Brett Lawrie was his sister Danielle's favorite Canadian Olympian:

My brother [brett Lawrie, baseball player] definitely. We got to see each other a lot. They got to come to a lot of our games. We didn't get a great chance to see them, but we would eat together -- not all the time, but enough that it still had a home feeling. I was excited for him, because he was playing with guys who are so old and I could talk to them and see how he was doing. That was definitely a favourite for me. -- Danielle Lawrie, softball