Andy Wicklund

Captain of his varisty baseball, football and hockey teams PLUS he played bass in the his chamber orchestra.  That is how the resume of Andy Wicklund begins and the Prospects are looking forward to helping his resume grow this summer at Telus Field.

Name: Andy Wicklund Nickname: Wick or Wicky

 

Hometown: Golden Valley, MN

 

Primary Position: SS Secondary Position: 2B

What do you feel are your strengths in the game of baseball? 

 

My biggest strength as a baseball player is my speed. This will help offensively on the base paths by putting extra pressure on the defense, and defensively my speed allows me to get to a lot more balls in the hole or up the middle to make a play.

Best word to describe you: well-rounded

First thing you will buy after signing a million dollar contract? Season tickets for my whole family.

 

Welcome to Edmonton Andy.

 

 

 

Tony & Dean Olson

Your Edmonton Prospects head into this summer featuring more pitching, more hitting and more coaching.  Your Prospects will also feature a set of twins.

 

Tony and Dean Olson, who begin play at Douglas College in March, look to make an impact this summer at the beautiful Telus Field.

 

Name: Tony Olson

Nicknames? Anthony, Tolson

Hometown: Sherwood Park, AB

Primary Position: Shortstop

Secondary Position: Pitcher

What do you feel are your strengths in the game of baseball? How do you think this will help the Prospects prosper in the new season?

 

I believe that my knowledge of the game is my biggest strength in baseball. Throughout the years I have been very fortunate in having great coaches that have taught me skills past the physical elements and into the mental side of the game.

Best word to describe you? Determined

First thing you will buy after signing a million dollar contract? A ridiculously good meal

 

Name: Dean Olson

Nicknames? Deano, Deaner

Hometown: Sherwood Park, AB

Primary Position: CF

Secondary Position: LF/RF

What do you feel are your strengths in the game of baseball? How do you think this will help the Prospects prosper in the new season?

 

Probably more of my defensive side of the game and my speed. Hopefully I can help the team proposer with my speed and cause some havoc on the basepaths and help the pitchers by taking away some base hits in the outfield.

Best word to describe you? Easy-going

First thing you will buy after signing a million dollar contract? Definitely my own butler.

Joey Bergandi

Fans new to the WMBL may not realize that many pitchers also play the field and take regular at-bats.  When you come check out the Prospects this summer at Telus Field, Bergandi might just be the player who introduces you to this element of the game.

From MercuryNews.com from last season when Bergandi won "Athlete of the Week"

"Bergandi has gone 14 for 19 with 11 RBIs in his past six games,raising his average to .417. He had four hits and also earned the win on the mound against College Park in the Crown Classic."

Name: Joey Bergandi Nickname: Blue

Hometown: Chicago

Primary Position: Pitcher Secondary Position: Infield

What do you feel are your strengths in the game of baseball?
Positive Energy, Controlling the game, and being aggressive pitch by pitch.

How do you think this will help the Prospects prosper in the new season? 
The positive energy and aggressiveness with help power the team to win.

Best word to describe you? Energetic

Without "googling" it, what do you know about Edmonton?
Hometown of the Oilers, and it snows in Edmonton.

Daniel Lockhert

For our next player introduction, we are headed back to the University of North Dakota (we previously introduced Alex Twenge) and welcoming middle infielder Daniel Lockhert. 

 

University of North Dakota baseball coach Jeff Dodson speaking about Lockhert's commitement to UND, "Daniel is a very special commitment for me. I have known him since he was eight-years-old from my days in Missouri. He is very committed to being here. He had several offers from schools around the country, but wanted to be here."

 

Name: Daniel Lockhert Nicknames? Danny

Hometown: Kennett, Missouri

Primary Position: shortstop

Secondary Position: second base

What do you feel are your strengths in the game of baseball? Fast pace and love to play the game of baseball

 

How do you think this will help the Prospects prosper in the new season? I'll bring energy to the club and help win ball games

Best word to describe you? Weird

First thing you will buy after signing a million dollar contract? Mt dew, bag of chips, and a new video game

Without "googling" it, what do you know about Edmonton? It's in Canada, that's really all I know.

Welcome to the Prospects Daniel!!

Logan Wedgewood

Baseball in the Capital city of Edmonton is reaching new levels of excellence.  An example of this is the St. FX Baseball Academy graduting a record amout of ball players last spring.  4 to those graduates will be appearing on your 2013 Edmonton Prospects roster.

 

The first player we will feature is Edmontonian Logan Wedgewood.

 

Name: Logan Wedgewood Nickname: wedgie

Hometown: Edmonton

Primary: catcher

Secondary: infield

What's your game?  I feel that my defense is one of my strongest parts of my game. Also I manage to put the ball in play which means I don't strike out much.  I'm hoping to help the pitching staff to feel more comfortable with their pitchs as they trust me to keep the ball in front of me and throw out runners.

Word to describe you: Outgoing

First thing you will buy after signing a million dollar contract?  A doghouse for teammate Cory Duggan to sleep in. Or a hat.

Introducing Alex Twenge

Last season at the University of North Dakota, Alex Twenge struck out 14 batters in 15 innings of work, the best ratio on his Division 1 team.  Entering his sophmore year with UND, he looks to continue honing his curveball and cutter which Prospects scouts already tout as "plus pitches".

Before he makes his way out to Edmonton this summer, he kindly agreed to answer a few questions to help introduce himself to Prospect fans.

Name: Alex Twenge Hometown: Minnetonka, MN

 

1st choice position: Pitcher

 

2nd choice position: Catcher (caught the last 30 games for my squad last year and hit .275 with 2 HR's. They converted me to just a pitcher this year.)

 

Organized Baseball: Ive been playing organized baseball since I was 3.

 

Favorite MLB team now and growing up: Yankees

 

Favorite MLB player growing up/currently: Jorge Posada/Robinson Cano

 

What's your game? My strengths in the game of baseball are that I am a very vocal person and I will do whatever I can to help the team. If helping the team win includes me running 3 miles in bare feet, I will start running right away. Also I throw a lot of strikes which helps the defense stay active and keeps the game moving.

 

First thing you will buy after signing a million dollar contract? I would probably purchase either a new car or maybe a new house

 

Favorite TV show: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

 

Favorite Movie(s): American Gangster, The Other Guys, Green Street Hooligans

 

Superhero and Power: Hulk and super strength

Many Reasons for Optimism

Going into last season, the Edmonton Prospects featured one Division 1 player.  His name was Grant Glasser and he lead the team in Batting Average, Runs, Hits, Walks and Stolen Bases while finishing second on the team in Doubles, Homeruns and RBI.

The competition level at each roster spot has never been so deep for a Prospects club looking to snap its WMBL playoff drought. Entering the 2013 season, the Edmonton Prospects will be featuring fourteen (14) Division 1 players.  The best part of the upcoming summer is the other 13 players on the roster, will be just as hungry to prove themselves and have their names pencilled into the starting lineup on a nightly basis. 

Pitching

Adam Lambrecht and Adam Moorse come to Edmonton from North Dakota State while Alex Twenge comes from the University of North Dakota.  Tommy Harding and Houston Edwards come to Edmonton from Grand Canyon University. Joining them in the battle for the starting rotation spots will be Joey Bergandi from the University of San Diego and the opening day starter for Chapman University, Justin Hanks.

Tossing from the left side of the mound for the Prospects will be big 6 foot 7 left hander Caleb Henley of UNC Greenboro and Canadians Cory Duggan and Taylor Metzger.

Quality Canadian arms are in abundance this upcoming season as the Prospects will also feature Byryn Murphy, Tyler Harrison, and Connor Girard.

Catcher

Dwight Mack, a 2012 & 2011 All-Western Dakota Association selection and 2012 Class A state champion, looks to bring his big lefty bat to the heart of the Prospects order. Quoting Dwight Mack himself, "If we can score runs then winning games will just take care of itself." 

Nathan de la Feraude,  who Represented Team Canada at the 2005 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa, also has experience pitching the ball in the British Columbia Premier Baseball League.  He is the opening day starting catcher for Chicago State University.

Logan Wedgewood (originally from Edmonton) and Antonio Paolini will spend March through May in friendly competition for playing time at Douglas College in preparation for the Prospects season.

Infield

Andy Wicklund, a former Apollo Award winner—an honor that recognizes Hopkin's High School’s outstanding male senior athlete and Daniel Lockhert look to lock up their respective spots in the middle infield.  Lockhert's former high school coach is quoted in their local paper The Daily Dunklin Democrat as saying "Very good player that hits very well.  He was consistently getting better in the field when he left us. From what we understand he's really kept improving and he's going to be an outstanding player..."

 

Possibly manning the hot corner for the Prospects, a four sport athlete (rugby, basketball, and volleyball in addition to baseball) in which he earned MVP honors in each sport.  Greg Rodgers, one of two Canadian Division 1 players, looks to keep building on his stellar junior career.

This still leaves the Prospects with Creighton University's Tommy Clouthier, UNC Greensboro's Sean Guite and U of San Diego's Conner Jauch as Division 1 players to rotate in and out of the starting in-field.

The wildcard in the competition for playing time in the in-field is Sherwood Park's Tony Olson.  To borrow words from http://www.collegebaseballconnect.ca/ "Will layout and make highlight reel plays but is also consistent on the same hand.  Outstanding character student and player"

Outfield

 

Dean Olson, Tony's twin brother, "tracks the baseball down with above average routes and takes really good angles. Throwing arm is above average as far as throwing to bases and throws a large numbers of base runners out." via http://www.collegebaseballconnect.ca/

Brandon Mikulka of Creighton University, holds the record at Ponderosa High School for career Homeruns.  A left handed hitter with some power, a potential lethal combination this upcoming season for the Prospects.

Connor Battaglia, who led the Chapman University Panthers in batting average (.330) in 2012, also batted an impressive .378 with runners in scoring position.  The Prospects look forward to that type of clutch hitting this upcoming season.

Bryn Redhead led his Junior College team last season in team batting average at .338.  His versatility will be key to the Prospects as he has spent time at Catcher and both in-field corner positions.

June cannot get here fast enough!!