Missing the playoffs in 2013, the Yorkton Cardinals will be looking towards a breakout season in 2014 in the Western Major Baseball League with one of the most experienced and promising rosters the ball club has seen in awhile. Pairing 2013's most productive players with promising new recruits they are looking to get their first taste of Canada's premier summer collegiate baseball league.
The Cardinals 2013 campaign ended strong as the team showed some fight once eliminated from the playoffs, banding together and going on a four game win streak to end the year off on a positive note even if they fell two wins shy of the Weyburn Beavers for the third place playoff spot in the East.
That streak near the end of the season was enough to convince manager Bill Sobkow to bring back a handful of returning Cardinals players for the 2014 season, the second year of the Western league being a 100 per cent summer league for college players from Canada, the United States and beyond.
One of the positions that will be seeing the most returnees in 2014 will be the pitchers as the Cardinals are planning on bringing back several key arms from a staff that was hit or miss last year, allowing most of the standouts to return in the hope that they can perform well and mix with the new faces to put together a potent pitching staff this year.
Jacksonville, Alabama's Jeff Pool is one of those starters as the workhorse for the Cardinals who set the team record for innings pitched in a season last year with 59.1 innings of work will return to the team.
Pool's record and numbers were nothing eye popping as he held a 4.39 ERA and a 3-5 record on the mound, but his ability to provide durability and work high numbers of innings will be something that Sobkow should appreciate down the stretch this season.
Local talent Kody Rock will also return to the Yorkton pitching staff as the Canora product was announced as one of the Cards 2014 returnees this offseason. Rock was young of the younger players on the Cardinals last season, but he still managed to do some steady work in relief from time to time and even finished fifth on the team in strikeouts. Entering his second season in the WMBL expect a more productive season from the lanky hurler from just outside of Yorkton.
Another notable local talent that will be pitching for the Cardinals this season will be Yorkton's Derek Marshall as the former Yorkton Minor Baseball product and Sacred Heart grad will be making his WMBL debut after a season playing college ball at Southeastern Illinois. The former Yorkton Yankees pitcher will be looking to prove his worth against players who should be much older than the young and barely removed from high school Marshall, something that should help his development at the same time as allowing him to represent his hometown team this summer.
Kameron Mizzell will also return to the fold for the Cardinals giving the Yorkton club a versatile player who had one of the best bats on the team in addition to being able to play both pitcher and catcher. Catcher will likely be the deepest position for the Cards in 2014 as the team has smartly doubled up on signal callers behind the plate, bringing back power swinging George Santiago into the fold as well giving them some of the best depth in the league at the position in terms of both experience and 2013 numbers.
Ben Grillo will also return at first base while the team has high hopes that Austin Drummonds can continue to be one of the best contact hitters in the WMBL after landing the super talented hitter from the Regina Red Sox. Hitting .343 last season he very well could be the catalyst to an offensive surge in the Yorkton lineup.
If Sobkow and coach John McVey can get production from Mizzell and Santiago as he did last season the Yorkton lineup could also improve in 2014.
With many new faces and returning ones coming to Yorkton for experience in one in Canada the Yorkton Cardinals know that they will need to improve slightly to ensure that they don't just fall short again, but with a bolstered roster it is looking like the Cardinals may just have the magic this summer.
To create a winning atmosphere you first need a good roster to build around, that is what the Cardinals fans and supporters will be hoping they have on Opening Day. Bringing back the best and brightest from the 2013 season as well as a mix of promising rookies and experienced WMBL talent, the sky is the limit for the 2014 Yorkton Cardinals as they look to open their home schedule this Friday against their rivals in the defending champion Melville Millionaires at Jubilee Park.
Sports fans in Yorkton will not want to miss another exciting year of Cardinals baseball, if they do they might just miss a playoff run.
