Jets return after weekend off from games

Posted on October 1, 2026 by Vauxhall Advance

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance

After nine Vauxhall Jets were in Vancouver for the Blue Jays showcase, the team was finally able to get some practice time in. This weekend saw the team return to the diamond for a handful of games in Lethbridge as they competed in the Prairie Baseball Academy Fall Showcase.

Game one went on Sept. 25 when the Jets took on PBA. In a close battle, it was PBA that was able to carve out a 4-2 win. The Jets had four hits in the game from Hudson Nikkel, Will Zielinski, Will Henzi, and Nathan Kim, each with a knock. Calum Andersen took the ball to start and went 2.2 innings with two earned runs on three hits and a walk. Andersen punched out two PBA hitters in his appearance. Ben McMahon was called from the bullpen and gave the Jets an inning and one-third where two earned runs scored on two hits and a walk. The reliever had three strikeouts over his inning and one-third. Josh Daloise finished things off with a clean two innings where he notched one strikeout.

Saturday saw a pair of games for the Jets as they lined up against the Sylvan Lake Gulls Prep. The Jets would find themselves in a hole thanks to nine errors, but they would battle back in the later innings. Thanks to a four-run seventh inning, VAB was able to walk off the Gulls 10-9. Caleb Poulin had a home run and a double in the win, while Nic Danilak, Nikkel, Gerrit Vanderwal, Zielinski, and Kaden Carson all had a hit.  Richard Marshall was the starter for VAB and went three innings with two strikeouts, two walks, and one hit. One unearned run would score. Connolly was the first man out of the bullpen, and he was tagged for seven runs (two earned) on seven hits. Connolly collected three strikeouts over 3.2 innings. Parker MacKenzie finished the game collecting the final out via strikeout.

Later in the day, the Jets took on the Saskatoon Berries in another high-scoring affair. The Jets and Berries would trade high-scoring innings back and forth b efore the game ended tied 8-8 after six innings. Kim had two hits, Poulin hit a triple, Carson hit a double, and Danilak, Vanderwal, Nikkel, Leo Masse, Riley Pineau, and Gavin Thomson all contributed with a hit. 

Charlie McMillan was the starter for Vauxhall, and he went two innings with three strikeouts. Two earned runs scored on five hits and a walk. Flach came in and threw 2.2 innings with three earned runs on two hits, two walks, and he struck out a pair of hitters. Cason Burton finished with one strikeout over 1.1 innings. Three runs scored (two earned) on a hit and two walks.

Sunday saw the weekend wrap up with a game against the Webber Wildcats. In another offensively charged game, the Jets were unable to keep up as they fell 14-8 in five innings. Vanderwal hit a double and a single, Carson had two doubles, and Kim had a double. Nikkel had a pair of singles, and Poulin, Masse, and Thomson all had a hit. Zielinski took to the hill and pitched a clean inning with one strikeout. Gavin Benard was the first man called into the game and went 2.1 innings with three strikeouts. Seven runs scored (three earned) on five hits and a walk. MacKenzie finished the game with an inning and two-thirds where seven earned runs scored on five hits and two walks.

“As far as performance concerns, wins and losses, I don’t think it was a great weekend. We had one win, we had one tie, we had two losses. We didn’t play great baseball. We made way too many errors defensively in a lot of the games, and it’s pretty tough to win at this level if you’re not taking care of the baseball,” explained Les McTavish, head coach of the Jets. We did have a lot of guys that had really good weekends, but we had some guys that just had tough weekends. And that’s all part of the development curve and kind of part of the process of growing as young men. Overall kind of synopsis of the weekend, we just, we didn’t take care of the ball well enough defensively. Not making excuses, but we are fighting the flu pretty good. We have had quite a few players that are down and out or fighting sickness, which has its challenges. But again, that’s all part of being a high-performance athlete.”

With defence being suspect this fall, the lack of practice time is rearing its ugly head. Fewer reps means more mistakes, and the Jets are getting to the point where winter and indoor work is coming at a great time.

“We haven’t had a ton of live reps, a lot of practice time (was cancelled) with the rain we had a couple of weeks ago. Then a bunch of guys in Vancouver for the Blue Jays showcase, and then they got back, and so that practice time has been at a premium, and it’s the end of a long fall. You have to balance practicing really hard and also not overdoing it during the week so that you’re not beat up on the weekend, but you also want to do enough to stay sharp. So it’s kind of a balancing act,” added McTavish. “I think if I pulled our ball club right now, I think a lot of them are not that they’re ready to be done, but they’re ready to get into the winter and really try to work on their individual game, you know, trying to get bigger, stronger, faster, whatever it is.”

Speaking of the Blue Jays camp, all nine players have returned to Vauxhall and gave the experience glowing remarks.

“I think they all had a great experience and Vancouver was a great host. The Blue Jays always do a tremendous job with it. Overall, it’s just a first-class event on many, many fronts and we had a lot of guys perform very well there, which is exciting,” said McTavish. “We have some of the top arms in the country, and all three of our hitters had good reps. So, happy with their performance and how they tackle things for sure.”