657 days. The Edmonton Prospects are scheduled to visit the Fort McMurray Giants on Friday May 24th and it will be the first time in 657 days that Jordan Blundell gets to submit a Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) lineup sheet to an umpire.
Blundell has been Head Coach and Assistant General Manager of the Prospects since 2019. As such, this is the second time he has had to deal with an elongated off-season. "The goal is to win the last game" is a quote you are guaranteed to hear from him. In 2021, tabbed "the traveling road show", the Prospects made it to the last game of the Western Canadian Baseball League Championship Series but fell short of the goal.
""The traveling road show" was a great advertising slogan for sure but our players felt at home playing most of our games in Sherwood Park or Spruce Grove. We volunteered for the league to play a couple games in Kindersley to help plants seeds for future plans. Still remember it was a couple of great games against Moose Jaw. Connections made throughout that season wherever we played is what this sport is all about.
Baseball is the avenue for connections to get made. I have come across so many awesome dudes with dreams and aspirations in and out of baseball. You meet families, you get to learn about these kids. You use the downtime to share laughs and work through trials and tribulations. If the player is a student taking a chemistry major, I'm taking the time to ask questions and learn about chemistry. It's about bringing value to the players and at the end of the summer saying thank you to each other."
A lead instructor at Evolution Baseball, Blundell keeps his managerial focus by teaching the next generation. "As kids learn and get better at the little things you can see their desire to improve rise."
Sports is so much about routine. About building on a foundation. How do you go about starting from square one?
"It's a privilege to be a coach and a recruiter . Keeping in touch with contacts from different programs throughout a lost season is sometimes difficult. It's been cool being able to reconnect with everyone.
Continuity is typically a key but a challenge is a challenge. I'm pretty excited to get back to work. The peripherals on the club are positive with the new ballpark coming. The snapshots of the players during recruiting are exciting. Most exciting is translating those snapshots and helping these players become men. Figuring out how many games different individuals can go before a game off is good idea. Who does well with the short turnaround of a Saturday night game and a Sunday afternoon game. It is one of the fun things about managing."
Peak at the 2024 Roster
Previously on Shotgun Sports, we shone a light on a few of the Alberta Players on the roster. Knowing Jordan would gladly talk about the entire roster, he was given the difficult task of just putting a couple names out there. Friendly reminder to readers that a week away from the regular season beginning, rosters still have a lot of moving pieces about them.
"I love watching good baseball. Western Canada, Alberta, Saskatchewan, clear across the world to Australia.
Gavin Fraser was given the opportunity to be "the guy" for the Cerro Coso Coyotes and he became that player. It is not an opportunity afforded to many players and an opportunity many players wilt under. He blossomed!"
"Lachlan (Lachie) Smith is young and has already represented his country. Smith has committed to play for Odessa Community College.
Staying with Odessa, Daniel Monti had himself back-to-back conference and regional appearances while sporting a career .300 batting average while there.
These players, as every player on the roster, are young and talented. The league is competitive, maybe more competitive all around than some of them are used to. We are not here to coddle players. Everyone has been told to go get it.
Looking forward to a great season. Tough to be patient for the new stadium but we are just so grateful for the fan support and appreciative of our partners. This is the best job someone can have."
Edmonton Prospects home games play out of Diamond #9, Centennial Park in Sherwood Park. Season tickets are only $100. The first home game of the season is on Thursday June 6th at 7 PM. See you at the ballpark!