WMBL seniors cherish their final shot at league title

By Sean Rooney on August 7, 2018.

It’s now or never for 13 players involved in the Western Major Baseball League’s Western semifinals.

As the league only allows college-eligible players on rosters, those who’ve finished their senior seasons are acutely aware they’ll be done sometime in the next two weeks.

“It’s a surreal feeling, a feeling I kind of don’t want to feel right now too,” said Medicine Hat Mavericks pitcher Tyler Shumpert prior to Monday’s first game of their series against the Edmonton Prospects. “I want to be able to focus on the game.”

It’s a given everybody wants to win a league title, but it would mean a bit more to finish a career with one. That’s why when Shumpert says he’d happily throw every day, he means it.

He’s not the only one able to make sacrifices with no college coaches imposing innings limits or rest days on him.

“They’re not worried about anything else because this could be it,” said Edmonton’s Brenden Wiun. “It’s special to be with all these guys and play one last competitive summer together.”

By most standards, Wiun shouldn’t be on anybody’s lineup card this summer. He had Tommy John surgery a year ago after blowing out his arm for the second time.

But the desire to finish up with his hometown team was too strong.

“I knew my only chance to play competitive baseball again was going to be this summer, because it was a year recovery and I hurt it going into last summer,” he said. “I’m only month 12-and-a-half now, I came back fast.”

The Prospects have a half-dozen seniors, including pitchers Wiun and Michael Gahan, infielders Nick Spillman and Zane Takhar, catcher Anthony Cusati and outfielder Derek Shedden.

Medicine Hat’s senior class includes pitchers Shumpert, Jared Libke, Sean Cruz and Jumpei Akunama plus infielder Zack Gray and outfielders David Salgueiro and Jaxson Hooge.

Many of them have bad memories of last year’s playoffs. Hooge, Salgueiro and Libke remember falling to the Prospects in the semifinals, while Prospects players are driven from a championship series loss to Swift Current.

See Final, Page A11

“This is our last year, pretty much every returning guy went through the heartbreak of last year,” said Spillman. “So this year we put it together, thought we’ve got to win this thing, go out on top.”

“That would be awesome, it would be amazing to get a ring,” added Hooge, a Calgary native. “I’ve grown up watching this league, so to be able to close it out with a championship would be pretty special.”

So far the seniors have played big roles. Cusati hit home runs in each of Edmonton’s round one wins in Okotoks, while Gahan pitched in two games and played infield when he wasn’t on the mound.

Akunama and Libke each got a win, Shumpert had a save for Medicine Hat with Gray belting two home runs, Salgueiro and Hooge one each.

“I just clear my mind, take each at-bat as it comes and do whatever I can,” said Hooge. “I’m just doing what I always do. I’m a grinder kind of baseball player.”

But sometimes, it’s hard to keep the reality from sinking in. Shumpert’s mom watched him throw last week and suddenly got teary-eyed.

“I asked ‘why are you crying?’ She’s like ‘this is the last time I might see you pitch ever,'” he said. “She’s right, this could be it.”