Nelson Baseball grads keep careers alive in Canadian College Baseball Conference
By The Nelson Daily Sports
There’s life in baseball after the youth leagues, and a handful of Nelson and District Baseball grads playing in the Canadian College Baseball Conference are proof.
Will Miller and Kyle Paulson decided to keep the baseball flame burning at the college level playing for Thompson Rivers and Prairie Baseball Academy in Lethbridge, respectively.
The two met up during the spring playoffs in Kamloops, with Paulson getting the best of his former teammate during the 2012 Canadian College Baseball Conference Championship Tournament.
Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs downed the WolfPack 3-1 to eliminate the hosts.
Paulson was the winning pitcher, going five innings giving up a run, eight hits, striking out one and walking three.
Paulson and Company went on to claim the CCBC title with a 5-1 win over Vancouver Island Baseball Institute Mariners.
At TRU, the WolfPack program has been up and running for the past 12 years with head coach Ray Chadwick at the helm.
This program has developed into one of the strongest in the league as Chadwick recruits a roster that includes players from all across Canada, the United States, Japan, Australia, Mexico and France.
Other West Kootenay players playing in the CCBC include Castlegar’s Travis Nevakshonoff, Cam Strachan of Trail, at TRU the past two seasons and Joey Underwood of Trail playing at Prairie Baseball, also the last two seasons.
The TRU season begins in February with the squad playing mostly exhibition games in the United States.
The CCBC season begins in late March with playoffs set for May.
Other teams in the CCBC include Kelowna’s Okanagan College, Vancouver Island Baseball Institute of Nanaimo, University of Calgary and Prairie Baseball Academy.
Miller also plays for Kamloops Sun Devils in the Pacific International summer league.
Miller, 20, an infielder for TRU, is entering his third season with the WolfPack in the Arts faculty.
