Remembering PEI pair of Tanner Craswell and Mitch MacLean
Originally published August 23, 2016
Charlottetown ... New Brunswick?
By Matt Betts
When the Charlottetown Gaudet’s Auto Body Islanders take to the field Thursday afternoon for the 2016 Senior Nationals championship in Fredericton, N.B. they will represent New Brunswick, not Prince Edward Island.
See, it all started when the Fredericton Peterbilt DQ Royals were headed to 2011 nationals and were looking for players to add to their roster for the tournament.
“Fredericton wanted to pick up one of our players,” Peter MacDonald, general manager of the Charlottetown Islanders said. “The problem was you can’t cross provinces to pick up players.”
In order to solve the problem, New Brunswick teams decided to think outside the box.
“They gave us an option to sign cards under Baseball New Brunswick,” MacDonald said. “So we registered with Baseball New Brunswick.”
Fredericton found a way to pluck players from PEI, while the Islanders continued to grow in the New Brunswick Senior League. The Islanders would go on to win the NBSBL championship in 2015. In turn booking their own ticket to the 2016 National Championship.
As host team Fredericton will be in the tourney as the host city but the provincial champ from the host province comes from PEI. The other teams entered are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec and two Ontario teams (Tecumseh and Strathroy).
If that sounds strange, just wait it gets stranger.
The Islanders almost folded in the winter of 2014. Team officials started resigning that offseason according to MacDonald and that left the teams future up in the air. MacDonald couldn’t stand the thought of all the players on the team having nowhere to play.
“Everyone was gone as of November 2014,” MacDonald said. “I wanted to see this team carry on. I said I would do whatever it took to keep this team going.”
One of the biggest questions that MacDonald had to answer was who would coach the team during the 2015 season. MacDonald knew who he wanted to be the team’s leader. The only question was whether the guy he wanted, really wanted to coach. That was when MacDonald approached his man, Keith Craswell (Charlottetown, PEI).
“Everyone knew he was the guy we wanted,” MacDonald said. “I wanted him to coach because he wanted to, not because he felt he had to because we didn’t have a coach.”
It seemed like a great fit according to MacDonald.
“He had coached many of these players at some point in their baseball careers growing up,” MacDonald said. “Keith is a terrific coach.”
Keith accepted the position and that’s where the roots of this story run even deeper.
Keith’s son Tanner Craswell, one of the best players to come off the Island in years, was a victim of the tragic shooting that took place in Alberta on Dec. 15, 2011. Tanner and Mitch MacLean, another player were driving to the airport with two woman so the boys could fly back to PEI for Christmas.
Teammates on both Prairie Baseball Academy and the Lethbridge Bulls of the Western Major Baseball League, Craswell and MacLean, transferred to Alberta to continue to pursue their careers. Craswell also played for Les McTavish and the Vauxhall Academy Jets while out west. They were shot on the way to the airport by an ex-boyfriend of one of the women along the side of the highway.
One of Tanner’s good friends, Jordan Duffy, is a member of the Charlottetown Islanders. MacDonald believes that had something to do with Keith’s willingness to coach the team.
“The opportunity to coach one of Tanner’s best friends played a role in Keith taking the job,” MacDonald said. “I think he believed in his heart that if he was coaching Jordan it would give him some relief from the tragedy.”
Unfortunately Duffy will not be with the team for the tournament as he accepted a one year teaching position in Nunavut.
Along with the team that won the 2015 NBSBL title and the 2016 roster, the Islanders also picked up five players for their championship push:
Third baseman Kris Keating (Miramichi, NB) and pitcher J.F. Neveu (Miramichi, NB) from the Chatham Ironmen. Pitcher Shaun O’Toole (Saint John, NB) and left fielder Mark Phillips (Saint John, NB) from the Saint John Alpines, while infielder Justin Cormier (Sainte-Anne-de-Kent, NB) comes from the Moncton Fishercats.
The Islanders are no strangers to players who are picked up for the nationals as they had nine players selected to both Fredericton and host Chatham prior to the 2015 tournament. All the players played a big role for their temporary teams according to MacDonald. Four went to Fredericton while five went to the host Ironmen.
With so many storylines heading into the tournament MacDonald says the goal is simple.
“The No. 1 one is to win the tournament,” MacDonald said. “It is a very well organized and competitive team. We are the underdogs. It is about working hard and coming out on top.”
When all is said and done MacDonald knows exactly how this team will be remember, win or lose.
“I know the team will be remembered as hard workers and sportsmanlike,” MacDonald said. “Even some of the Fredericton fans said that the Islander players are the same when the game starts as when it ends. They are gritty.”
So there is only one question that remains heading into the event. If the Islanders are crowned national champions, is New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island kings of Canadian baseball?
“On paper it will be New Brunswick,” MacDonald said. “But in out hearts it will be Prince Edward Island.”
Let the games begin.
Islanders pitching coach Joe Puiia gives instruction to Sean Corcoran and Temple Macdonald during a training session for the Charlottetown Gaudet’s Auto Body Islanders at the indoor soccer complex in Stratford in 2011. Photo: Brian McInnis, Guardian.