麻豆社区

Thanks in part to a broken down bus, local baseball player Jimmy Semaschuk will be taking his talents to south Edmonton next month to compete in the 2013 Senior Men's Canadian Slo-Pitch Championship.

The national men's and women's championships will run Aug. 10 to 16 in Leduc, Alta.

Semaschuk will play right field for Team B.C.

"University baseball was competitive, so I can only imagine that softball here in Canada is pretty popular too,鈥� Semaschuk told the Star. "I hear it's a pretty big event down there.鈥�

Semaschuk has been playing co-ed ball in Whitehorse this season after finishing his four-year career at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. last year.

While with the WolfPack, Semaschuk was twice a second team all-麻豆社区in the Canadian College Baseball Conference as a right fielder.

Last season, he batted over .300 and was third in team RBI production.

Prior to that, he fondly remembers his days with the Kelowna Cubs, squaring off against current Blue Jays infielder Brett Lawrie in the British Columbia Premier Baseball League.

The Whitehorse athlete will head to Leduc a week prior to the championships to get in some practice with the team.

"They like me for my gun,鈥� Semaschuk said.

The 23-year-old actually got a recommendation from one of his teammates at last weekend's Dustball International Slo-Pitch Tournament.

First baseman Olivier Moreau has a pedigree that includes playing in major U.S. tournaments for Canadian Men's A teams.

The 30-year-old Vancouver resident was supposed to meet an Edmonton-based team in Whitehorse for Dustball, but after their bus broke down en route, he found himself picked up by Dave's Cleaning.

"The guys on our team were all wicked ball players,鈥� Moreau said following Dave's Cleaning's loss in the final. "I play a lot of high-level ball, and this was good ball. It reminds me of playing in Men's A championship where there's thousands of people watching.鈥�

He said he noticed Semaschuk's talents right away.

"He's quite the ball player,鈥� Moreau said. "He's Men's A calibre. He's a diamond in the rough who's never gotten a chance to play. He has no idea about it. So you've got a guy like me who comes up here to play and sees him 鈥� it's a no-brainer.鈥�

Moreau said as soon as he saw Semaschuk on the diamond, he called his coach.

"I had to right?鈥� said Moreau. "I gave my coach a word, and he trusts my judgment.鈥�