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Waterloo Junior Tigers get another lease on life I ike a cat with nine lives, the Waterloo Junior Tigers have urvived the departure of longtime field boss Brian Bishop to play another day. And it‘s thanks to a longtime supporter of Waterloo Minor Baseâ€" ball, Gary Kieswetter, that the cats are back. Kieswetter joked that he had a little extra time on his hands, after narrowly losing out on a return to city council last fall, when Bishop approached him about takâ€" ing over the team. â€" "I heard through the grapevine that they might not have a team this year," said Kieswetter, a longâ€" time coach himself who once ran the Midget team in town. Bishop was moving on to coach another storied franchise, the Kitchener Panthers in Senior Interâ€" County baseball, and was reluctant to let the Tigers tradition fade into history. He had coached the team to an Interâ€"County title and a silver medal at the provincials a couple of years ago. "Things just worked out," said Kieswetter. "I thought it would be nice to own the team and keep it going for the kids who still wanted to play." Minor baseball usually wraps up after the midget age group. Kieswetter thought it would be a great option to have the kids graduâ€" ate to the local junior team instead Kâ€"W Braves hope rebuilding process isn‘t too painful n 11â€"3 thrashing at the A:\:nds of Six Nations wasn‘t e start that the Kâ€"W Junior A Braves were hoping for. But Braves general manager Corey Hallman doesn‘t think his young and rebuilding club will turn in that many duds the rest of the season as they celebrate the team‘s 40th year. First off, Six Nations is loaded for bear as they take a serious run at a Minto Cup after being runâ€" nersâ€" up the last two years. Secâ€" ondly, the Braves were missing some key veterans in the lineup, like Alex Inch, who are supposed to waterlose mnmnattress By Bos VrBANAC Chronicle Staff By BOB VRBANAC Sleep well...Live well. Factory Showroom Chronicle Staff 282 MARSLAND DRIVE, 519.747.3729 www .waterloomattress.ca Kola@c sEA guide a young Braves team with 10 new faces on the roster who have never played Junior A lacrosse before this season. "It wasn‘t as bad as I thought it was going to be," said Hallman. "They‘re (Six Nations) the top team in the country right now and they didn‘t hold anything back. "But we had our chances, we just couldn‘t put the ball in the net and they got some good goaltendâ€" ing." o The Waterloo Junior Tigers Trevor Hern makes the stretch at first base to record an out against the Guelph Silverâ€" creeks Sunday at Bechtel Park. The Tigers went on to lose their homeopener 7â€"1. so# amanAC PHOTO Sure there will be some growing pains. There were some growing pains five years ago when the Braves went with a lineup domiâ€" nated by rookies and ended the season 5â€"15. But they bounced back the next O W N E D SPORTS Spring & foam mattresses Pillow tops & box tops Pressure reduction technology Posture zone designs Memory foam & contour pillows 60 Day comfort guarantee season to go 12â€"8. Hallman doesâ€" n‘t think his team will have to go KITCHENER â€" WATERLOO WnsAE through that big an adjustment period. e â€" "We took last year‘s roster and crossed off the guys who were gone and were like ‘Oh, we‘ve got our work cut out for us,‘" said Hallâ€" man. "But we‘ve brought in a few They have to replace big sticks like Eric Benesch and Cam Munroe in the lineup. Benesch went on to be named the National Lacrosse League‘s rookie of the year with the Toronto Rock, 30 talent like that isn‘t easity replaced. key guys." But Halilman is excited about players like Justin Gibson and James Reid, although there will be a little adjustment period to the league where you can have men R ED O N WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, May 16, 2007 * 29 S |P J | Plus the Junior Tabbies have had a healthy tradition of developing college talent for kids looking for U.S. scholarships or those looking to continue to play in the Canadian university system. of having nowhere else to play. "We also have Dave Chilton coaching the midgets and Dave Jantzi coaching the bantams, whio hhave some excellent players movâ€" ing up the system, so the continuâ€" ity of players would be there for years to come," said Kieswetter, who was also president of Waterloo Minor Baseball for three years. "And some of the players I once coached were ready to play junior. Kieswetter said it‘s been interâ€" esting serving not only as the Jr. Tigers new owner but also as the team‘s new field manager. He hopes to relinquish those duties next year and sit up in the owner‘s box, but until then he‘s having a good time reconnecting with the kids. "It‘s a good nucleus coming back so 1 thought this was the only chance I had to do this. We wanted to give the kids something to play for after they‘re done their minor The Tigers had a tough loss to open the season with a 3â€"2 defeat to the Brantford Red Sox last Thursâ€" day. "It was a good game that feaâ€" tured strong pitching and strong defence by both sides," said Continued on page 31 playing with boys. It causes those boys to grow up in a hurry. _ _ "We‘re going to be a pretty blueâ€"collar team losing players like Benesch, so you have to win all those other little battles like loose balls. You have to work hard on defence and in the transition game and hope the rest takes care of itself." The Braves also brought in a couple of new backstops, Stephen Bourget and Curtis Doherty, to add some stabitity to a goaltending carousel that saw players like Nick Mroczek suit up last year. "It‘s all about hustle," said Hallâ€" man. "It‘s all about work ethic. Continued on page 32