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22 ' “Al l Kl l)! l ("HRUNILLL ' Wednesday November £7 it!” D New program wants to glue talented baseball players a chance at southern exposure By BOIVRMNAC their future. While it might be great “97mm“? 51017 to play baseball at the next level, K‘s it's also important to get a good fter losing talented junior- “J C education so you have something Afiged players to the provin- to fall back on. ial baseball league for y , A “l was fortunate to do the right years. two local coaches with a life» {1 ”us ’ thing and get a great education." long passion for the game decided 7 .‘ a 3: < _ f . * said Rausch. “We want them to to do something about it. - '- ‘ l ‘ - ‘ , 7 learn life skills from this program “When I moved back to the area , i " â€" ‘ as well.” about five years ago the one thing I (a; - The approach is enjoying raves noticed pretty quickly was that the . “W from the players who participated level of baseball and the calibre of like Nathan Morin and losh Pud~ baseball had dropped off a little ’ , dephatt. bit," said Rausch. e “I wanted to continue to play "I was a little naive about the \ _ baseball and explore my opportu- elite programs that had cropped ., nities of going to school in the up everywhere and kind ofdrained \ States.” said Morin, l8. a lot of the talent from the local 75,» “This was great because at the centres," 14 if tournament in Indiana there were Rausch and Jeff Amos had both C a bunch of pro scouts and college been playing baseball practically 3,5; ». scouts. since they were toddlers. After the .. ‘_ "There are a lot ofopportunities playing days were over they decid» ‘ dovm there," ed to gn e back to the game and Puddephatt said he played for both coach at the midget or junior Rausch before and knew about the level high level ofcoaching he proflded. The local lntercounty league ~~; it it ‘ So when he was invited to try out served as 31 launching pad for them ‘ 7’15E' ,. fi “if the team h“ lllml’t‘d i“ me during their playing days. and they 1 ff“; 7 - ~ r chalice. were disappointed to see players i it . 34,5» “They gave Us a great opportu- goingonl to PM) for PM? ”KIM The Can Am Reds Baseball program recently won a prestigious tournament in Evansville, Ind. Members of that mty, 77am {ht ”53W" 21d , tarnsalttrbungenticcd by prom- t . l d d hJ R h J h P dd h N th M . dJ ffA V We wc re (anadtans and no ises of scholarships and exposure earn inc u e coac ason ausc ‘ 05 u ep an, a an arm an e mos. ”W'AML ”00 one really knew what to expect but to Major league Baseball scouts That's when Rausch and Amos He was also a member of the of [Evansville in Indiana in October we went 4-0 and showed them we "For example at the midget came up with the idea to start a Kitchener Panthers in the lnter- The Can Am team went on to just don't play hockey. we play level we're down to four centres. new program that would allow county Baseball League from 1988- defeat some of the top under-18 baseball." most other levels have eight to 10 players to stay in their local l996, and was the lBl. player ofthe programs from the Midwest to win The (Lari Am Reds Baseball pro- teams." said Rausch. “We're down leagues until August and join them year in 1995. He retired as the the championship. The tourna- gram will be holding a prospect to four because a lot of people are after the season was over. They ninth leading home run hitter in merit win included victories camp for next season at the Uni» looking for that opportunity and would then take those interested league history with 50. against teams like the Indiana Yan~ versity of Guelph Sportsdome on thinking they're getting that expo» players and travel to tournaments Rausch was a three~time aca- kees, put together by Buddy Swift a Dec. 6 from 10:30 am. to 1 pm. sure. in the us. and expose them to the demic all-American at the Buffalo, scout for the Seattle Mariners, and The cost of the camp is $25 per "They're being sold something opportunities they enjoyed. N.Y.. based school. and was the Kentucky Baseball Club. player. but l haven't talked to a lot of peo- That's why they started the Can inducted into the school's Hall of ranked 38th in the (1.5, at that The organimtion has also part ple or heard a lot of success stories Am Reds Baseball program. which Fame 205. He also played in three time. tiered with Top Prospect ("anada to that people have got what they is open to players from Kitchener. collegiate all»star games. including Rausch and Amos said they take the team down to Sarasota. paid for." Waterloo. Guelph and all the other one at the old Yankee Stadium concentrated on the fundamentals Fla. in March to take part in the "I think it's important for kids centres in the local lntercounty where the lifelong New York Yan‘ during that tournament and annual Florida Showcase event. who might not be able to shell out Basede Association. kee's fan got a hit in the. ‘house focused on the basis like respect The event will feature a US. col- all that money to still have the Rausch knows a little bit about that Ruth built." for the game. respect for the lege and pro showcase and a mini- same opportunities," said Amos. what he's talking about when dis- The coaching duo were able to coaches and respect for each mum of three games against the "It shouldn't be about writing a cussing playing at the next level. interest enough local players this other. top high school teams from the cheque. After graduating from the season that they were able to put a They also know the importance Tampa area, “I'm tired of seeing these kids Kitchener Dodgers program team together and entered them in of academics and want to make For more information go to (‘an leave the local system and never he played Division I baseball for the Pastime Tournament FallWood sure the kids involved in the pr0~ Am Reds Baseball programs web- coming back." (‘anisius College. Bat Tournament at the University gram take a balanced approach to site at www.canambaseball.com. â€"IllI|llllIIlllIIll|Il| \ : ROYAL LEPAGE REAL ESTATE UPDATE _ ,,t.;.l , â€"lIllII|IllllI|IIlIIIll " ~" ' D - WATERLOO REAL ESTATE Locally at Waterloo. the housing market remains strong and ' ‘ 4 l yust returned from the National Association of Realtor home sales are up month to date by almost 25! according to w l g _ ‘ . convention in San Diego where I attended many interesting the Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate Board stats. House prices ‘. ‘ ‘ ‘l' . “l . A - seminar: One of our speaker: was Condoleeua Rice. who this month are up to an average of $295,958 over $289,855 “13ij ‘ , . k \ . ‘ I _ _ : give a wonderful speech on what the USA stands for on a last November. Houses an ailing quicker too u the avenge ‘ 4 y - ‘ fifl ‘ world but; The gml confidence level it starting to rise in time is 39 by; on market versus 46 days on marht last yum ii . | , ' km the United States but many so" fact there will be a I2â€"month Once againtherloo stands strong in a revitalized real 5 I ' l x ' _: g to l&month period before recovery is ruched. estate market. ‘ 7 "H ,.__ _ l