July 1, 2002

Axford gets ESPN props, Player of the Week honour
Player of the Week, Week 20 Honours





By BOB ELLIOTT
           
 You can hear all kinds of names in rapid-fire succession watching either ESPN's Sport Centre or ESPN's Baseball Tonight.

 You can hear Roger Clemens-Greg Maddux-Jason Giambi-Barry Bonds-Alex Rodriguez-Sammy Sosa-Jim Edmunds-Chipper Jones-Andruw Jones flying past at 20 names per minute as the highlights flash by like a subway roaring past lights in a darkened tunnel.

 Yet, there on ESPN was analyst Harold Reynolds, the former Seattle Mariners second baseman and Ken Griffey, Jr.'s good pal, speaking calmly and slowly in measured tones.

 Reynolds was slowly speaking about Axford and how impressed he was at what he had seen at the College World Series.

 Reynolds and former Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees manager Buck Showalter were discussing the strong right arm of reliever John Axford from Omaha, Neb.

 Both Reynolds and Showalter were impressed with the 96-mile-per-hour fastball Axford displayed for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as Axford pitched a 1 1/3 scoreless innings in a 5-3 loss to the Stanford Cardinal before 23,807 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium. The loss eliminated Notre Dame after three CSW games.

 Axford took over in the sixth with Notre Dame trailing 4-2. Axford walked two and struck out one in his impressive outing.

 Notre Dame lost the opener in Omaha 4-3 to Stanford before 21,919 fans. Then the Irish evened its record with a 5-4 victory over the Rice Owls before 15,000.

 For pitching six innings of post-season relief, Axford (freshman, Port Dover, Ont.) was named the Canadian Baseball College Player of the Week.

 The honor goes to the college player having the best week of the 556 Canucks playing college ball south of the border.

 Besides, his 1 1/3 scoreless innings against Stanford, Axford pitched pitched 4 2/3 inning of relief for Notre Dame in the second game of the NCAA Super Regionals, a 12-5 loss to the Florida State Seminoles before 4,974 fans at Dick Howser Memorial Field in Tallahassee, Fla.

 Florida State scored eight times in the first inning and Axford was given the ball with two out in the fourth with Notre Dame trailing 10-4.

 Axford allowed three hits and one run in 4 2/3 innings allowing four hits and five runs.

 Notre Dame had won the opener of the best-of-three series 10-4 before 5,388 fans.

 Then, the Irish beat Florida State 3-1 before 5,195 fans to advance to Omaha and the College World Series.

 After pitching for coach Doug King since tyke, Axford moved on to pitch for Team Ontario and Marc Picard and then Greg Hamilton and the Canadian National Youth team.

 Now, after a successful spring, Axford moves on to the prestigious Cape Cod League. The Cape league is dominated by players entering their junior years, so it is a testament to Axford's success that he was placed with the Hyannis Mets.

 Axford earned a scholarship to Notre Dame after recruiters saw him during a Team Ontario trip to Chicago and the regional Area Codes games.

 In 2001, Axford was the sixth -- second high schooler 00 Canadian player selected in the annual June amateur draft of high schoolers and collegians. The Mariners chose Axford in the seventh round, but he elected to go to Notre Dame rather than sign.

 Axford is projected to be top five-round pick in 2004.

 The final NCAA Division I polls ranked Notre Dame, which finished 50-18, has claimed its highest final ranking in each of the three major polls. Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball magazine both list the Irish sixth in their final polls while the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll has the Irish seventh. Notre Dame's previous top rankings in the final polls were 15th by BA (since 1981), 10th according to CB (since 1959) and 14th in the coaches poll (since 1992).

 Notre Dame posted a 99-31-1 combined record during the past two seasons (.760), with only Florida State (107) and South Carolina (106) won more games over the course of the 2001-02 seasons. Eleven other teams totaled 90-plus wins during the past two seasons, including Rice (99), Stanford (98), Southern (98), Nebraska (97), Oral Roberts (96), Clemson (95), Georgia Tech (93), Tulane (92), Central Florida (92), Wake Forest (91) and East Carolina (90).

 On the season, Axford was 5-2 in 17 games -- 12 starts -- with a 3.95 ERA. He fanned 64 hitters in 70 2/3 innings.

 And how other Canadians did in tournament play:

 
_ Second baseman Hyung Cho (sophomore, Toronto, Ont.) doubled as the No. 6-ranked Houston Cougars lost 5-2 to the No. 3-ranked Texas Longhorns in the deciding game of the best-of-three NCAA Super Regionals before 7,291 fans at Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Tx. Shortstop Jesse Crain (junior, Toronto, Ont.) singled in the loss. Crain also worked 2 2/3 innings of relief allowing four hits and one run -- the first run he allowed all season -- while striking out two. UH ended the year at 48-17 overall and posted the third best win percentage in school single-season history. Crain gave up an RBI triple in the seventh to end his consecutive-inning scoreless streak at 35.2 innings -- the second longest in UH history - and was the first earned run allowed he allowed in 36.2 innings during the season. Crain picked up the save in the opener, a 2-0 Houston win before 7,209 fans. Crain pitched 1 2/3 innings allowing one hit and striking out three. Texas hammered Houston 17-2 before 7,372 fans to even the series at 1-1 and force a deciding game. On the season, Crain hit .310 in 64 games with 13 doubles, 11 homers and 47 RBIs, while on the mound he had a tiny ERA of 0.23 and a 4-0 record with 10 saves. Crain fanned 46 while walking 10 in 26 innings. Cho hit .270 in 63 games with five doubles, a triple, six homers and 28 RBIs.

 
_ Outfielder Kris Cox (senior, Kelowna, BC) and the USC Trojans went home losing in straight games to the Stanford Cardinals at the NCAA Super Regionals in Stanford, Calif. Stanford won the opener 4-3 and then the second game 5-3.  On the season, Cox hit .254 in 26 games with three doubles, two triples, two homers and nine RBIs.

 
_ Third baseman Emerson Frostad (reshman, Calgary, Alta.) of the Lewis-Clark Warriors didn't see much action in the annual 2002 Avista NAIA World Series at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho, but Frostad was a reason Lewis-Clark had such a successful feeling. The Warriors beat the Bellevue Bruins 13-0 and Spalding 2-0, before losing to the Oklahoma City Stars by a 13-10 score. Lewis-Clark then beat Ohio Dominican 11-4, Albertson 5-0 in the semi-final and then Oklahoma City 10-8 in the championship final. For Lewis-Clark it was their 12th title since 1986 and seventh since 1990.
 On the season, Frostad hit .327 in 39 games with five doubles, a triple, four homers and 26 RBIs.

 
_ Outfielder Ryan Kenning's New Mexico State Aggies did not make the annual College World Series. However, the NCAA extended an invite to Kenning to attend the festivities and like he has been all season, Kenning (senior, North Vancouver, BC) did not disappoint. Using a wooden bat Kenning won the home run challenge during the the opening ceremonies at Rosenblatt Stadium. The eight participants got a point for every home run with an aluminum bat and three for a ball hit out with a wooden bat. "I've been hitting with a wooden bat all fall and all spring during batting practice. I'm going to be playing pro ball soon so I might as well start now," Kenning, who was drafted and signed by the Anaheim Angels, said. "To come here and go against some of the nation's best hitters is amazing," said Kenning, who left Omaha to report to the rookie-class Provo Angels. "I tried to stay calm while I was at the plate," Kenning said. "I had a few good pitches early and I got a hold of them. This was great experience for me." Kenning, who hit 24 homers and drove in 96 RBIs for the Aggies, used wood for each at-bat and hit three out in the opening round, then two each in the semifinal and championship rounds to win it. Nate Gold of Gonzaga, who led the nation with 33 homers this year, lost in the championship round, hitting one wooden bat homer. The eight teams were introduced between home run rounds to the crowd of a few thousand. Kenning had the most points in the semifinals with six, easily topping Alvernia College slugger Todd Meyer's one in the top bracket. Gold beat Brad Eldred of Florida International 1-0 in the semifinals. Kenning won the first round with nine points by hitting three balls out with a wooden bat. Gold and Eldred each had five points and Meyer advanced by beating Heath Mason of Carson-Newman in a swing-off. Shaun Rice of Ohio Wesleyan, Mason, Junior Medina of Stonehill College and Bubba Lavender of Morehead State didn't make it out of the first round.

 
_ Lefty Drew Taylor (freshman, Leaside, Ont.) was also at the College World Series in Omaha, however he did not see action for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Georgia Teach won the NCAA Super Regionals over the Florida Atlantic Panthers in straight games 14-3 and 11-5. At the College World Series, Georgia Tech opened with an 11-0 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks, lost 9-7 to the Clemson Tigers and were eliminated with a 9-5 loss to South Carolina. On the season, Taylor was 0-0 with a 7.71 ERA in 11 games. He fanned five hitters in 9 1/3 innings.

 And other Canadians also being honored in our week:

 
_ Right-hander/DH Clark Andres (junior, San Clara, Man.) of the Mayville State Comets was named the most valuable performer in the Dakota Athletic Conference-10. Andres hit .357 in 45 games with 13 doubles, two triples 14 homers and 56 RBIs, while on the mound he was 9-1 with a 3.03 ERA in 14 games, while striking out 65 in 65 1/3 innings. Mayville right-hander Jared Whitehouse (senior, Woodstock, NB) was named the most valuable senior. Whitehouse went 8-2 in 16 games with a 5.59 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings.

_  First baseman Richard Dean (senior, Langley, BC), left-hander Michael Czerwieniec (freshman, Maidstone, Ont.) and Whitehouse were all named to the DAC-10 academic scholars honor roll. To qualify, students who have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher are named as a DAC-10 scholar.

 
_ Infielder Jesse Crain (junior, Toronto, Ont.) was named to the 2002 Baseball Weekly All-American team. Crain also earned Baseball America All-American first-team honors. Crain became the first player in C-USA history to be named first team All-Conference at two different positions. Crain was also the first Conference USA player taken in the Major League amateur draft, going to the Minnesota Twins in the second round. At the plate, he batted .310 with 13 doubles, 10 home runs and 47 runs. On the mound, he was 4-0 with a school-record 10 saves, not allowing an earned run all season until the third and deciding game of the NCAA Super Regionals final, throwing 37 1/3 innings on the year.

 
_ Catcher Jeff Crinklaw (sophomore, Cambridge, Ont.) of Ohlone College, earned 2002 All Northern California conference honors and was edged out for all-state honors.  On the season, Crinklaw hit .346 in 45 games with 10 doubles, 12 homers and 55 RBIs.

 
_ Right-hander Chris Kemlo (freshman, Oshawa, Ont.), of the Santa Fe Saints, was selected to the all-Conference second team. Kemlo was 7-2 record with a 3.48 ERA this year.

 
_ Outfielder Ryan Kenning (senior, North Vancouver, BC) of the New Mexico State Aggies was named to the 2002 Baseball Weekly All-American team.  On the season, Kenning hit .319 in 61 games, with 15 doubles, three triples, 24 homers and a whopping 96 RBIs.

 
_ Right-hander/infielder Tom Klapp (sophomore, Elkford, BC), right-hander Bryce McLean (freshman, Calgary, Alta.) and right-hander Aren Nelson (sophomore, Calgary, Alta.), of the Valley City State Vikings were all named to the Dakota Athletic Conference-10 academic scholars honor roll. To qualify, students who have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher are named as a DAC-10 scholar.

 
_ Infielder Paul McTavish (senior, Saskatoon, Sask.) of the Jamestown Jimmies made the Dakota Athletic Conference-10 academic scholars honor roll. To qualify, students who have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher are named as a DAC-10 scholar.

 
_ Right-hander/third baseman Monte Scott (senior, Calgary, Alta.) of the Peru State Bobcats set career records with 243 hits, 169 runs batted in, 681 at-bats, 388 assists, and a 1.99 career ERA. Scott was honored in 2002 as the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year and was chosen as a NAIA All-American honorable mention the past two seasons. Scott also set single season records with 18 home runs and 11 wins. At the plate, he batted .373 in 50 games with nine doubles, one triple, 18 bombs and 56 RBIs. While on the mound he was 11-4 with a 1.97 ERA in 15 starts with 66 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings.


_ Outfielder Nick Tarnes (sophomore, Estevan, Sask.) and infielder Nick Stushnoff (junior Calgary, Alta.) of the Minot State Beavers were selected to the Dakota Athletic Conference-10 academic scholars honor roll. To qualify, students who have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher are named as a DAC-10 scholar.

 And how Canadians did as the 2002 college season drew to a close:

 
_ First baseman Chris Becker (sophomore, Guelph, Ont.) hit .342 with 14 doubles, four homers 44 RBIs and 16 steals for the Texarkana Bulldogs. Shortstop Matt Spatafora (sophomore, Toronto, Ont.) hit .316 with nine doubles and 16 RBIs.

 
_ Third baseman Don Cornell (junior, Toronto, Ont.) of the York Panthers hit .359 in 24 games with three doubles, two homers and 19 RBIs.

 
_ First baseman Rich Dean (senior, Langley, BC) led the Mayville State Comets and their large Canadian contingent to the 2002 Avista NAIA World Series at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho. Dean hit .333 in 49 games with six doubles, 18 homers and 52 RBIs. Third baseman Geoff Zimmerman (junior, Moose Jaw, Sask.) hit .360 in 49 games with 15 doubles, 12 homers and 42 RBIs, while catcher Brendan Harz (junior, Oakbank, Man.) hit .331 in 46 games with nine doubles, three triples, four homers and 32 RBIs and shortstop Craig Hern (junior, Bindloss, Alta.) hit .353 in 46 games with 11 doubles, three triples, six homers and 36 RBIs. However, the most offensive force for Mayville was DH Clark Andres (junior, San Clara, Man.), who hit .357 in 45 games with 13 doubles, two triples 14 homers and 56 RBIs. On the mound, Andres was 9-1 with a 3.03 ERA in 14 games, while striking out 65 in 65 1/3 innings. Right-hander Jared Whitehouse (senior, Woodstock, NB) was 8-2 in 16 games with a 5.59 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings. Left-hander Mike Czerwieniec (freshman, Maidstone, Ont.) was 7-2 in 16 games with a 3.67 ERA, fanning 41 in 61 1/3 innings. Danny Chappel (junior, Edmonton, Alta.) hit .317 in 24 games with a double a homer and 12 RBIs. Aaron Challoner (freshman, Winnipeg, Man.) was perfect for the season going 3-for-3 with an RBI in five games, while Darcy Paterson (freshman, Hamiota, Man.) hit .300 in eight games with a homer and six RBIs.

 
_ Outfielder Drew Miller (senior, Medicine Hat, Alta.) of the Oklahoma Baptist Bison ranked among conference leaders with 28 doubles and 66 runs scored.

 
_ Right-hander Mike Phinney (sophomore, Mississauga, Ont.) was the backbone of the Bacone Warriors pitching staff compiling an 8-2 record and a 3.68 ERA in 12 games. Phinney had 47 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings. At the plate the Warriors were led by catcher Billy Neale (sophomore, Collingwood, Ont.) who hit .413 in 46 games with 12 doubles, a homer and 25 RBIs. Outfielder Darryl Cormier (freshman, Toronto, Ont.) hit .361 in 53 games with 14 doubles, seven homers and 50 RBIs. Infielder Andrew Swagers (freshman, Toronto, Ont.) hit .362 in 42 games with six doubles, two triples, five homers and 38 RBIs. Catcher Ryan Donoghue (freshman, Mississauga, Ont.) batted .333 in 39 games three doubles, two homers and 24 RBIs. Reliever Brook Coatsworth (sophomore, Toronto, Ont.) had a 3-1 record and a 5.41 ERA in nine games, fanning 19 in 22 innings.

 
_ Outfielder Simon Powell (freshman, Ottawa, Ont.) hit .363, with 35 runs scored, for the Monroe Tribunes. Right-hander Jesse Stanley (freshman, Ottawa, Ont.) had a 7.44 ERA, with 18 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings. Infielder Ryan Peel (freshman, Manotick, Ont.) hit .181.

 
_ Right-hander Jim Ripley (sophomore, Pickering, Ont.) was an impressive 9-1 with a 3.35 ERA for the Connors State Cowboys, fanning 94, while walking only 19 in 56 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, first baseman Karl Amonite (sophomore, Woodslee, Ont.) was a tower of power at the plate for the Cowboys hitting .412 with 18 doubles, a triple, 17 homers and 71 RBIs. Catcher George Kottaras (freshman, Markham, Ont.) led the Cowboys with a .420 average as well as hitting 21 doubles, two triples, 13 homers and 63 RBIs, while infielders Aaron Hornostaj (freshman, Waterloo, Ont.) and Marc Chabot (sophomore, Kingston, Ont. -- Canada's first capital) also each hit over .400. Hornostaj batted .403 with 10 doubles, a triple, four homers and 34 RBIs, while Chabot hit .402 with eight doubles, two triples three homers and 24 RBIs. Infielder Tyler Johnstone (freshman, Brampton, Ont.) hit .311 with 12 doubles and 28 RBIs. Besides Ripley's Believe It or Else on the mound, the Cowboys had fine seasons from right-hander Marc-Andre Lavoie (freshman, Timmins, Ont.) and Danny Desclouds (sophomore, Stittsville, Ont.). Lavoie was 4-1 with two saves, fanning 29 in 28 innings, while Desclouds was 4-3 with a 5.59 ERA, striking out 31 in 29 innings.