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Waterloo Chronicle (Waterloo, On1868), 11 Apr 2001, p. 24

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Behind the scenes at a big league camp But with his playing days behind him after a stint at a us. college, he took up coaching to keep that dream alive for someone else. Since then he's helped manage his Waterloo Midget Tigers Triple "A" baseball team to back-to-back Ontario tides. the majors, And the majors finally came call- ing because of his on the field prowess. asking him to be a guest coach during the final week of the Blue lays' spring training. Ed Heather of the Blue Jays con- tacted Marciniak in October about a program the team had that invites four coaches from across Canada to have a behind-the-scenes look at a major league camp. When asked if he was interested. Marciniak said, "I’m not going to say no, sure I'm definitely interested." he St. David Celtics Tcapped off a champi- onship season by win- ning the WCSSAA senior boys all-star hockey game 5-4 last Wednesday. And a big part of the team's success was due to centreman Dave Munroe, who was named the MVP of the senior loop. Celtics centre earns nod as hockey MVP The first-year high school hockey star played like a vet- eran, helping lead his team to a WCSSAA title win over cross-town rivals WCI. Head coach Dave Beaton said he's one of those players that puts the team before himself. "That was evident all year," said Beaten. “He was a leader, and primarily by example" NINE Beaton said Munroe was workmanlike in his approach 10 the game. doing all the lit- tle things to make the differ- ence, Word frnally Guile down, and Ike every baseball player. Waterkufs Iasun Marciniak kireamed off getting his shot at BY Boa Vmwwc Chum tte $21]; By Boa VRBANM; Chronicle Styff, SPOR TS That started with the six- foot centre's prowess on the faceoff. to his ability to get the puck to Iinemates Jeff Schmidt and Brad Forsyth at the right time. The 170-pounder would also drive to the net for a important goal, after battling it out on the boards with the other team's defencemen. "He never slumped throughout the year," said Beaten about his first-line centre. "He was consistent all year, "That's what we needed in a fairly long season with all its ups and downs. He kept up his level of play. while main- mining his sportsmanship," The modest Waterloo minor hockey grad said the award came as a surprise. considering it was his fmst year in the league. He decided to try his hand at high schnnl hockey when most of the players graduat- ed from the Midget Waterloo Lions all-star team last year. '1 wasn't drafted (By the Marciniak said experience. "It was just about observing and getting to know the guys, and get- ting [0 know the game of baseball better," said Marciniak. "l was watching how the Blue Jays teach the skills and mechanics of baseball to their players, and seeing what I could bring home with me." Marciniak already has his team doing some of the reaction drills he saw at the big league camp. One drill involves making diving plays from your knees, designed to improve a player's defensive quick- "They did a lot of drills where you didn't really even need to be on the baseball field," said the 27-year- old who played his university ball at Spring Arbor College in Michigan. "You can just be out in a field and do the drills the way they are. "Another thing I found very interesting was that the coaches participated in all of the running and stretching drills. It leads to team building when the players actually see the coaches getting out there it was a fantastic OHL) so I decided to have some fun," said Munroe, who would like to play university hockey. "If I wanted to go for a scholarship, or whatever, you can pretty much get the same offers playing high school hockey as you can playing midget." He also liked the Celtics chances of winning a hockey tide, especially with some of the turnover in talent in the rest of theWCSSAA league "l thought with our veter- an talent we could win the league," said the 17-year-old Grade 12 student, "That's pretty much what t wanted to do __ win the league title and have some fun." The one thing he quickly learned lo love about the high school game was the heat it generated between mmpeting schools. particu- larly with next-dour neigh- bour, WCI, "You end up knowing a lot of the guys on the other team," said Munroe. "You SPORTS Jason Marcinlak and doing it with them, It aids to it." In addition to the coaching tips Marciniak got to meet some of the big names in the Blue Jay camp like "That rivalry between us and WCI was huge this year, and it was hm because of that." As an added bonus, the choice m play high school hockey also reunited him with a lot of teammates he played with while growing up. really start to enjoy the rival- ries between schools. Munroe played with his winger, Forsyth, since they were eight years old. The linemales were quickly able to transfer that chemistry over to their other winger Schmidt. "With Forsyth we've always clicked together since we were little," said Munroe. "And Schmidt can skate, so he fn right in too." With most of the Celtics' skaters coming back for another season, Munroe said he likes his team's chance of repeating. - "Ifweugel a few guys back, we should be able to win again J' he said. RUN“ ll Tony Batista and the Jay's assistant GM Dave Stewart. Stewart made a big impression on Marciniak with his approacha- bility and his knowledge of the team. "He's a good talker," said Marciniak. "He really communicate ed with the coaches and the play- ers, and was really easy to talk (0." Marciniak said the biggest sur- prise at the camp was getting to know former Blue Jay MVP George Bell. Bell developed a reputation with the Toronto media of being surly, but Marciniak said he was the funniest person at camp. Batista helped shed some of that bonus baby image of big league ball players with the interest he took in getting to know minor league play- Batista would come into the dugout and talk about the game to some of the younger kids. And the Blue lays third baseman made a show of not forgetting where he came from by treating the whole minor league camp to barber cued ribs and pop to wash it down. The St. David Cehics' David Munroe earned the nod as the MVP of the local WCSSAA senior boys hockey league, ‘ -__ M, , BEER mu: BRICK OPEN "i n. . u 7 DAYS A WEEK l . "V " , Mon Fr: my (rhe 01x y Newer Ends SU9-thSun ll b nu King -i. , iallil In addition l0 Bell's extensive knowledge about hitting he kept everybody loose with his constant bantering. Even Marciniak couldn't escape the gentle teasing. After he tossed a batting practice the players made sure they let him know what they though about his pitching. "They said look at all those snow- balls behind home plate." said Marciniak. "lt wasn't like I hadn't heard that before." In the end, Marciniak said he came away with a new respect for those involved in the major league "These guys just know the game of baseball like nobody I 've ever met in my entire life," said Marciniak. "These guys eat, live and breathe baseball. "I thought I was a baseball fanat- ic, but it was nothing like these guys. One coach there knew every base- ball player in the state of Florida, it was quite amazing. "lf's definitely Helped me look at the game from a different perspeo tive." St, s., Waterloo

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